*L./6V4X 


f 


PRESENTED  TO  THE  LIBRARY 


OF 


PRINCETON  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


BY 


JVIrs.   Alexander  Ppoudfit. 


BT  235  .L67  1853 

Lord,  Eleazar,  1788-1871. 

The  Messiah  in  Moses  and  the 

prophets 


THE  MESSIAH 


MOSES  AND  THE  PROPHETS, 


ELEAZAR     LORD. 


NEW-YORK: 
CHARLES    SCRIBNER,   145    NASSAU   STREET. 

18  5  3. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1853,  by 

ELEAZAR  LORD, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Southern 
District  of  New- York. 


TO  THE  DESCENDANTS  OF  ISRAEL. 


From  the  earliest  periods  a  belief  has  prevailed  among 
Jews  and  Gentiles,  that  in  one  mode  or  another  the 
Supreme  Being  has  appeared  visibly  on  earth.  In  the 
Eastern  World,  Divine  incarnations  are  taught  in  the 
Brahminical  and  other  systems. 

For  the  origin  of  such  a  belief  we  must  undoubtedly 
recur  to  the  Divine  appearances  recorded  in  Moses  and 
the  prophets.  Such  visible  appearances  and  the  doctrine 
of  the  incarnation  are  taught  in  the  Hebrew  as  well  as 
in  the  Christian  Scriptures. 

It  is  the  object  of  the  ensuing  pages  to  show  that  He 
who  truly  became  incarnate,  and  is  announced  as  Jesus, 
the  Christ,  and  also  as  Jehovah,  Immanuel,  God  with  us, 
is  the  same  who  in  the  Hebrew  oracles  is  often  called 
Jehovah  and  Elohim,  and  designated  also  by  official 
titles,  as  the  Messiah,  the  Messenger,  Adonai,  the  Elohe 
of  Abraham;  and  that,  under  various  designations,  he 


IV  TO   THE   DESCENDANTS   OF   1SKAEL. 

appeared  visibly  in  a  form  like  that  of  man  to  the  Pa- 
triarchs, and  to  Moses,  and  others.  In  Him,  in  accord- 
ance with  their  Scriptures,  the  descendants  of  Israel  will 
at  length  discern  the  True  Messiah,  who  took  man's 
nature,  and  in  his  stead,  and  as  his  substitute,  was  slain 
a  sacrifice  for  sin,  the  Just  for  the  unjust;  who  rose 
from  the  dead,  and  ascended  on  high  in  his  glorified 
body  ;  and  who  will  come  again,  visibly,  to  sit  and  rule 
as  King  on  the  throne  of  David  ;  to  destroy  the  great 
Adversary  and  his  works ;  to  vindicate  his  earlier  ad- 
ministration ;  to  accomplish  the  ancient  predictions  con- 
cerning the  Seed  of  Abraham,  the  land  promised  as  an 
everlasting  inheritance,  and  his  own  sacerdotal,  pro- 
phetic, and  regal  offices ;  and  to  receive  due  homage  of 
the  universe  as  Creator,  Kuler,  and  Eedeemer. 

Of  him  as  Jehovah  and  as  the  Messenger,  it  is  affirmed 
that  he  led  the  children  of  Israel  out  of  Egypt.  (See 
Exodus  ii.  and  Judges  i.)  And,  after  the  lapse  of 
nine  hundred  years,  He  himself  proclaimed  to  their  dis- 
persed and  afflicted  descendants :  "  Behold  the  days 
come,  saith  Jehovah,  that  it  shall  no  more  be  said,  Je- 
hovah liveth  that  brought  up  the  children  of  Israel  out 
of  the  land  of  Egypt ;  but,  Jehovah  liveth  that  brought 
up  the  children  of  Israel  from  the  land  of  the  north, 
and  from  all  the  lands  whither  he  had  driven  them  : 
and  I  will  bring  them  again  into  their  land  that  I  gave 


TO   THE    DESCENDANTS   OF   ISRAEL.  v 

unto  their  fathers.  For  mine  eyes  are  upon  all  their 
ways :  they  are  not  hid  from  my  face  : — and  they  shall 
know  that  my  name  is  Jehovah."  Jer.  xvi.  14,  15,  17, 
21. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2010  with  funding  from 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


http://www.archive.org/details/messiahinmosesprOOIord 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    I. 
Reasons  for  examining  the  Hebrew  Records  of  the  Messiah. 

CHAPTER      II. 

The  Messiah  announced  by  Malachi,  as  Adonai,  even  Melach,  the  Mes- 
senger of  the  Covenant — His  appearance  to  Jacob  at  Bethel ;  and  to 
Isaiah,  Abraham,  Moses,  Gideon,  and  others,  under  various  designa- 
tions, as  Adonai,  Melach,  a  Man,  Jehovah  Zebaoth,  the  Holy  One, 
El-Shadai,  <fcc 

CHAPTER     III. 

Reasons  for  rendering  the  formula  "  Melach  Jehovah,"  the  Messenger 
(who  is)  Jehovah ;  and  not  the  Angel,  or  an  Angel  of  the  Lord. 

CHAPTER      IV. 

Visible  Appearance  of  the  Messenger  Jehovah  to  Hagar. 

CHAPTER    V. 

No  visible  Divine  Appearances  ever  made  except  of  the  Messiah,  the 
Mediator  in  all  the  Relations  of  God  to  the  World. 

CHAPTER    VI. 
Appearances  of  the  Messenger  Jehovah  to  Abraham  and  to  Jacob. 


VU1  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

References  to  various  Appearances  of  Jehovah  and  Elohim  to  the 
Patriarchs. 

CHAPTER     VIII. 

Of  the  Doctrines,  Worship,  and  Faith  of  those  earliest  mentioned  in 
Scripture — Reference  to  the  History  of  Moses,  Noah,  Joshua. 

CHAPTER    IX. 
Narrative  concerning  Job. 

CHAPTER    X. 

Further  notice  of  Divine  Manifestations  to  Abraham  and  Jacob — Mys- 
teriousness  attending  the  Divine  Appearance — The  visible  Form 
always  like  that  of  Man. 

C  HAP  T  E  R    XI. 

Of  the  official  Person  and  Relations  of  the  Messiah. 

CHAPTER    XII. 

Local  and  visible  Manifestations,  Intercourse  and  Instructions,  as  cha- 
racterizing the  primeval  and  Mosaic  Dispensations — Local  Presence 
of  the  Messenger  Jehovah  in  the  Tabernacle. 

CHAPTER    XIII. 

Of  the  Chaldee  Paraphrasts — Their  method  of  designating  the  Per- 
sonal Word  or  Revealer — Occasion  and  Necessity  of  it. 

CHAPTER      XIV. 
Citations  from  the  Chaldee  Paraphrases. 

CHAPTER    XV. 

Reasons  of  the  Failure  of  the  modern  Versions  of  the  Scriptures  to 
exhibit  clearly  the  Hebrew  designations  of  the  Messiah — The  Maso- 
retic  Punctuation — Reference  to  the  term  Melach  and  the  formula 
Melach  Jehovah. 


CONTENTS.  IX 


C  HAP  T  E  R    X  VI. 

Continuation  of  the  subject  of  the  preceding  Chapter — Combined  influ- 
ence of  Rabbinical  and  figurative  Interpretations — German  method 
of  Hebrew  study — Preposterous  notion  of  the  inadequacy  of  Lan- 
guage" as  a  Vehicle  of  Thought. 

CHAPTER    XVII. 

Relation  of  the  Antagonism  between  the  Messiah  and  the  great  Adver- 
sary to  the  local,  personal,  and  visible  Manifestations  of  the  former — 
Modes  of  Visibility  on  the  part  of  the  latter,  through  human  agents 
and  various  instrumentalities. 

CHAPTER    XVIII. 

Illustration  of  the  subject  of  the  last  Chapter,  exhibiting  the  Antago 
nism  as  carried  on  by  visible  agencies,  instrumentalities,  and  events, 
in  the  plagues  of  Egypt  and  at  the  Red  Sea. 

CHAPTER      XIX. 

Further  Illustration  of  the  Antagonism — Idolatry  a  Counterfeit  Rival 
System  in  opposition  to  the  Messiah  and  the  True  Worship — Its  Origin 
and  Nature — Satan  the  God  of  it — The  Tower  of  Babel  devoted  to 
his  Worship — That  Worship  extended;  thence  over  the  Earth  at  the 
Dispersion. 

CHAPTER     XX. 

The  system  of  Idolatry  founded  on  a  perversion  of  the  Doctrine  of 
Mediation — References  to  the  Worshippers  of  Baal,  Israelite  and 
Pagan. 

CHAPTER      XXI. 

Idolatry  an  imposing  and  delusive  Counterfeit  of  the  Revealed  System, 
in  respect  to  the  leading  features  of  its  Ritual,  and  the  prerogatives 
ascribed  to  the  Arch-deceiver — Reference  to  the  Symbols  of  the 
Apocalypse. 

CHAPTER    X^II. 

On  the  question,  How  it  hap  happened,  since  the  origin  of  the  Nicene 
Creed,  that  the  Old  Testament  has,  been  understood  to  ascribe  the 
Creation,  not  to  the  Christ,  but  to  the  Father  \ 


X  CONTENTS. 

C  HAP  TER      XXIII. 

Continuation  of  the  subject  of  the  foregoing  Chapter — Reference  to  the 
Heresies,  respecting  the  Creator,  of  the  three  first  and  ensuing  cen- 
turies. 

CHAPTER    XXIV. 

Subject  of  the  last  Chapter  continued — Results  of  the  earliest  and  most 
prevalent  Heresies. 

CHAPTER      XXV. 
The  great  Antagonism — in  what  manner  will  it  terminate  ? 

NOTES. 

A — Relating  to  the  Exposition  of  the  Apocalypse,  by  D.  N.  Lord. 
B — The  primary  ground  of  Mediation,  &c. 
C — Omitted  from  page  21,  after  2d  paragraph. 


THE  MESSIAH 


MOSES  AND  THE   PROPHETS. 


THE  MESSIAH 


MOSES    AND    THE    PROPHETS, 


CHAPTER  I. 

Reasons  for  examining  the  Hebrew  Records  of  the  Messiah. 

It  is  said  of  the  Messiah,  in  a  discourse  with  two  of 
his  disciples,  that  "  Beginning  at  Moses,  and  all  the  pro- 
phets, he  expounded  unto  them  in  all  the  Scriptures,  the 
things  concerning  himself."  And  subsequently :  "These 
are  the  words  which  I  spake  unto  you  while  I  was  yet 
with  you,  that  all  things  must  be  fulfilled  which  were 
written  in  the  law  of  Moses,  and  in  the  prophets,  and  in 
the  Psalms,  concerning  me.  Then  opened  he  their 
understandings,  that  they  might  understand  the  Scrip- 
tures." On  another  occasion  he  said:  "Search  the 
Scriptures ;  for  in  them  ye  think  ye  have  eternal  life : 
and  they  are  they  which  testify  of  me."  And  again: 
"  Had  ye  believed  Moses,  ye  would  have  believed  me  ; 
for  he  wrote  of  me.  But  if  ye  believe  not  his  writings, 
how  shall  ye  believe  my  words  ?  " 

At  his  advent  he  was,  pursuant  to  a  prediction  of 
Isaiah,  called  Immanu-El,  God  with  us.     In  conformity 


16  THE   MESSIAH 

■with  another  prediction,  it  was  the  office  of  his  fore- 
runner to  prepare  the  way  of  Jehovah — the  Lord.  And 
an  angel  announced  to  the  shepherds :  "  Unto  you  is  born 
a  Saviour,  which  is  Christ  the  Lord,"  {Jehovah.)  "  Philip 
saith  to  Nathaniel,  We  have  found  him  of  whom  Moses 
in  the  law,  and  the  prophets,  did  write,  Jesus  of  Naz- 
areth." 

"We  should  naturally  infer  from  these  passages  that 
the  delegated  official  Person,  Jesus,  the  Christ,  was  the 
theme  of  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures ;  that  his  official 
agency  and  relations  were  there  continuously  and  amply 
treated  of;  that  his  complex  character,  his  divine  pre- 
rogatives, his  prophetical,  sacerdotal  and  regal  offices, 
his  works  as  Creator,  Lawgiver,  and  Euler,  and  his 
relations  as  Covenanter  and  Eedeemer,  were  there  con- 
spicuously set  forth,  and  were  the  recognized  and  ac- 
knowledged objects  of  the  faith  and  trust  of  patriarchs, 
prophets,  and  all  true  worshippers. 

And  such  undoubtedly  was  the  case.  He  was  the 
Jehovah  of  the  Old  Testament ;  the  Elohe  of  the  patri- 
archs and  of  Israel ;  the  Angel  or  Messenger  Jehovah, 
the  Jehovah  Zebaoth,  the  Adonai,  the  Messiah  of  the 
ancient  dispensations.  Under  these  and  other  designa- 
tions Moses,  the  psalmists,  and  the  prophets  wrote  of 
him ;  saw,  acknowledged,  and  believed  in  him ;  wor- 
shipped and  praised  him  in  the  tabernacle  and  temple ; 
recognized  and  obeyed  him  as  their  Lawgiver,  and 
trusted  in  him  as  their  Saviour. 

Their  faith  rested  on  him  as  the  present  object  of  their 
homage  and  trust,  asserting  his  prerogatives,  dispensing 
his  benefits,  and  in  all  his  relations  exerting  his  official 
agency.  They  regarded  him  not  merely  as  he  was  typi- 
fied, but  as  he  then  manifested  himself  and  executed 
his  offices.     In  some  respects  his  future  manifestations, 


IX    MOSES    AND   THE    PROPHETS.  17 

and  especially  his  sufferings  and  death  for  the  expiation 
of  sin,  were  vividly  prefigured  by  typical  rites,  and  were 
objects  of  their  faith ;  but  in  other  respects,  as  their 
Mediator,  Prophet,  Lawgiver,  Priest,  and  King,  he  was 
the  present  object  of  their  homage,  faith,  love,  and  obe- 
dience. The  faith  of  Abel,  Enoch,  Noah,  Abraham, 
and  their  successors,  embraced  his  person  and  his  offi- 
cial prerogatives  and  works,  and  was  therefore  effectual 
unto  justification,  precisely  as  that  of  believers  under  the 
present  dispensation,  who  are  therefore  described  as 
walking  in  the  steps  of  that  faith  of  Abraham  which 
was  counted  for  righteousness.  The  faith  which  was  in- 
strumental in  his  justification  was  the  exemplar  alike  of 
that  of  all  believers  under  the  ancient,  and  of  those 
under  the  present  dispensation.  To  him  the  patriarchs 
erected  altars  and  offered  sacrifices  and  prayers,  and  from 
him  received  gifts  and  promises.  To  him  the  minis- 
terial offices  and  typical  services  of  the  Levitical  priest- 
hood had  immediate  reference.  In  the  tabernacle  and 
temple,  as  Prophet,  Priest,  and  King,  he  instructed 
them,  prescribed  their  worship  and  obedience;  and  as 
their  present  Lawgiver  and  Ruler,  exercised  over  them 
his  providential  and  moral  government. 

All  this  is  implied,  indeed,  in  the  facts  that  the  Church 
of  that  and  the  present  day  is  the  same ;  that  the  method 
of  salvation  through  faith  in  him  was  the  same  then  as 
now ;  and  that  he  was  the  Saviour  and  Mediator  alike  then 
and  at  present:  and  otherwise  it  is  not  perceived  how  an 
intelligible  or  satisfactory  answer  can  be  given  to  the 
questions,  How  did  he  exercise  the  office  of  Mediator 
under  the  ancient  economy  ?  "What  agency  did  he  ex- 
ercise towards  his  people  ?  How  did  he  exemplify  his 
offices  of  Prophet,  Priest,  and  King  ?  A  reference  to 
the  designations  by  which  he  was  recognized,  and  the 


18  THE   MESSIAH 

acts  ascribed  to  him  in  connection  with,  those  designa- 
tions, will  supply  the  appropriate  answer.  If  it  was  He 
who  appeared  in  a  form  like  that  of  man  to  Abraham, 
in  the  plains  of  Mamre,  walked  and  conversed  with  him 
as  a  man,  and  heard  the  prayers  addressed  directly  to 
him  on  behalf  of  the  righteous  dwelling  in  Sodom  ;  and 
who,  under  various  designations,  appeared  in  the  same 
form  to  Jacob,  to  Moses,  to  Balaam,  to  Joshua,  to  Gideon, 
to  Manoah,  to  David,  and  others;  then  may  we  safely 
conclude  that,  under  the  like  designations,  he  was  famil- 
iarly known  and  worshipped  throughout  the  patriarchal 
and  Levitical  dispensations. 


CHAPTER  II. 

The  Messiah  announced  by  Malaehi,  as  Adonai,  even  Melach,  the  Mes- 
senger of  the  Covenant — His  Appearance  to  Jacob  at  Bethel ;  and  to 
Isaiah,  Abraham,  Moses,  Gideon,  and  others,  under  various  designa- 
tions, as  Adonai,  Melach,  a  Man,  Jehovah  Zebaoth,  the"  Holy  One, 
El-Shaddai,  <fcc. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  designations  referred  to  in- 
clude all  those  which  are  applied  to  the  Divine  Being : 
and  that  in  numerous  instances  they  are  applied  inter- 
changeably in  the  same  passages  and  connections,  in  such 
manner  as  clearly  to  show  that  they  identify  the  same 
Person.  Thus  the  words  El,  Elohe,  Elohim,  translated 
God;  and  Jah,  Jehovah,  Adon,  and  Adonai,  translated 
Lord,  are,  separately,  and  also  in  conjunction  with  Me- 
lach, Angel  or  Messenger,  and  with  other  names  of  office, 
employed  to  designate  and  identify  that  delegated  Per- 
son who  is  "both  Lord  (Je/wvah)  and  Christ." 


IX    MOSES  AUD   THE   PKOPHETS.  19 

111  demonstration  of  this,  we  may  first  refer  to  some 
passages  in  which  the  appellative  Melach,  the  primary 
signification  of  which  is  Messenger,  occurs,  as  a  designa- 
tion of  him  who  was  sent  of  the  Father ;  as  Malachi  iii.  1 : 
"  Behold,  I  send  my  messenger,  [John  the  Baptist,]  and 
he  shall  prepare  the  way  before  me;  and  the  Adon  whom 
ye  seek  shall  suddenly  come  to  his  temple,  even  Melach, 
the  Messenger,  of  the  Covenant,  whom  ye  delight  in: 
behold,  he  shall  come,  saith  Jehovah  Zebaoth."  And 
Isaiah  1.  3,  5 :  "  The  voice  of  him  that  crieth  in  the 
wilderness,  Prepare  ye  the  way  of  Jehovah,  make  straight 
in  the  desert  a  highway  for  our  Elohe.  .  .  .  And  the  glory 
of  Jehovah  shall  be  revealed,  and  all  flesh  shall  see  it 
together,  for  the  mouth  of  Jehovah  hath  spoken  it." 

These  prophecies  are  quoted  by  the  Evangelists  as 
identifying  Jesus  the  Christ.  See  Matthew  hi.  1-6; 
xi.  10;  Mark  i.  2-4;  Luke  iii.  3-6;  John  i.  6-8. 
They  point  to  John  as  he  who  was  spoken  of  by 
these  prophets,  and  as  proclaiming  in  the  wilder- 
ness, Prepare  ye  the  way  of  Jehovah.  He  whose  way 
was  prepared  was  therefore  the  Messenger  of  the  Cov- 
enant, the  Adon,  the  Elohim,  and  the  Jehovah — the  dele- 
gated official  Person  to  whom  these  several  designations 
are  applied  in  the  predictions.  That  official  Person  was 
the  Eevealer,  as  well  as  the  subject  of  the  ancient  reve- 
lations; and,  as  will  hereafter  be  more  particularly 
noticed,  manifested  himself  in  different  aspects  and 
relations  of  his  official  work,  and  in  those  diverse  re* 
lations  often  .spoke  predictively  (as  at  the  close  of  each 
of  the  above  passages)  and  otherwise,  to  and  of  him- 
self. 

The  same  conclusions  result  from  a  passage  in  the 
narrative  of  Jacob's  journey  from  Padan-aram  to  Shechem, 
Gen.  xxxii.,  taken  in  connection  with  the  reference  to 


20  THE   MESSIAH 

it  by  the  prophet  Hosea:  "And  Jacob  was  left  alone  ; 
and  there  wrestled  a  man  with  him  until  the  breaking  of 
the  day.  .  .  .  And  he  said,  Thy  name  shall  be  called  no 
more  Jacob,  but  Israel:  for  as  a  prince  hast  thou  power  with 
Elohim  and  with  men,  and  hast  prevailed.  .  .  .  And  he 
blessed  him  there.  And  Jacob  called  the  name  of  the  place 
Peniel :  for  I  have  seen  Elohim  face  to  face."  Hosea, 
referring  to  Jacob,  chap,  xii.,  says:  "  He  had  power  with 
Elohim ;  yea,  he  had  power  over  the  angel,  [Melach,  the 
Messenger,']  and  prevailed ;  he  wept  and  made  supplica- 
tion unto  him:  he  found  him  in  Beth-El,  and  there  he 
spake  with  us ;  even  Jehovah  Elohe  Zebaoth — Jehovah 
is  his  memorial."  Here  the  God-man,  the  only  Divine 
Person  who,  under  the  ancient  or  present  dispensation, 
has  ever  manifested  himself  visibly  in  the  likeness  of 
man,  is  seen  face  to  face  by  Jacob,  and  is  denominated 
Elohim,  the  Messenger,  the  Jehovah  Elohe  Zebaoth, 
whose  peculiar  designation  is  Jehovah.  Accordingly, 
Hosea  says  of  Melach,  the  Messenger,  that  Jacob  made 
supplication  unto  him:  he  found  him  in  Beth-El,  indi- 
cating that  it  was  in  the  place  which  he  named  Beth-El 
that  he  first  recognized  the  official  acting  administrator 
of  providence  and  grace,  the  God-man,  in  the  relations 
in  which  he  then  appeared  to  him.  The  passage  spe- 
cially referred  to  by  the  prophet  in  relation  to  Beth-El 
is  in  Gen.  xxviii.,  where  Jacob's  flight  to  Padan-aram, 
to  avoid  the  wrath  of  Esau,  is  narrated.  On  his  way 
he  slept  in  the  open  field,  and  beheld  in  a  dream  a  ladder 
extending  from  earth  to  heaven.  "And  behold !  Jehovah 
stood  above  it,  and  said,  I  am  Jehovah  Elohe  of  Abra- 
ham, and  Elohe  of  Isaac,  &c.  And  Jacob  awoke  and  said, 
Surely  Jehovah  is  in  this  place :  .  .  .  this  is  the  house  of 
Elohim."  The  Messenger  therefore  to  whom  Jacob  made 
supplication,  and  whom  he  first  saw  at  Beth-El,  was  Jeho- 


IN   MOSES  AND   THE   PROPHETS.  21 

vah.  the  Elohe  of  Abraham  and  Isaac,  even  Jehovah 
Hlojre  Zebaoth. 

low  by  another  instance  that  He  who  in  the 
ancicu.,  oracles  is  called  Adon,  Adonai,  and  Jehovah 
Zebaoth,  is  in  the  New  Testament  referred  to  as  the 
Christ,  Isaiah  vi.  may  be  cited.  1  saw,  says  the  prophet, 
"the  Adonai  sitting  upon  a  throne."  "Then  said  I, 
Woe  is  me !  .  .  .  for  mine  eyes  have  seen  the  King,  Je- 
hovah Zebaoth."  The  apostle  John,  chap,  xii.,  ascribes 
what  was  announced  at  this  scene  to  Christ,  and  adds : 
"These  things  said  Esaias  when  he  saw  his  glory  and 
spake  of  him." 

With  respect  to  the  point  now  particularly  in  view, 
the  Scriptures  quoted  above  render  it  certain  that  the 
Divine  Person  who  by  Malachi  is  called  the  Messenger 
of  the  Covenant,  and  the  Adonai,  and  by  Hosea,  the 
Messenger,  Elohim,  and  Jehovah,  is  identical  with  Jesus 
the  Christ. 

Illustrations  might  be  adduced  from  the  New  Testa- 
ment to  show  that  the  apostles  understood  the  Messiah 
and  the  Messenger  Jehovah  to  be  the  same  Person. 
Thus,  Galatians  iv.  14:  "Ye  received  me  as  an  angel  of 
God,  even  as  Christ  Jesus ;"  where  the  rendering,  in  our 
own  and  other  versions,  "  an  angel,"  corresponds  with 
the  erroneous  usage  so  common  in  the  Old  Testament. 
The  meaning  is :  Ye  received  me  with  respect  and  con- 
fidence, as  ye  would  have  received  the  Melach,  the  Mes- 
senger Jebovah,  even  Jesus  the  Messiah.  For  undoubt- 
edly, had  a  created  angel  been  referred  to,^a  comparison 
would  not  have  been  made  placing  the  Messiah  on  a  level 
with  him.  The  instances  in  the  New  Testament  in  which 
the  Angel  Jehovah  is  referred  to,  though  unhappily  not 
discriminated  in  our  translation,  are  from  the  context 
easily  distinguishable.     See  Acts  vii.  30,  35,  38. 


22  THE   MESSIAH 

The  word  A donai  occurs  as  a  Divine  designation  several 
hundred  times  in  the  Old  Testament,  chiefly  in  the  form 
indicated  above,  but  sometimes  simply  Adon.  It  is  often 
employed  in  connections  which  clearly  show  it  to  be  a 
personal  designation  of  the  Messiah,  and  which  assert 
or  imply  his  official  prerogatives,  agency,  or  relations. 
It  is  employed  interchangeably  with  Jehovah,  Elohim, 
and  other  Divine  designations,  sometimes  preceding  and 
at  others  following  them;  sometimes  with,  but  more 
commonly  without  the  article. 

In  the  second  of  the  above  forms,  this  word  is  com- 
monly, like  the  secular  English  title  lord,  applied  to 
men  in  the  relation  of  masters  or  rulers;  as  Melach  is 
applied  to  men  to  distinguish  them  officially  as  mes- 
sengers. And  as  our  own,  in  common  with  other  trans- 
lators, failed  to  mark  the  distinction  between  the  use 
of  the  word  Melach,  as  a  designation  of  the  Messiah, 
and  the  use  of  it  with  reference  to  created  agents,  human 
or  angelic,  so  they  seem  to  have  regarded  the  words  Adonai 
and  Adon  as  importing  something  inferior  to  the  Divine 
designations  of  Jehovcdi  and  Elohim;  which  difference 
they  indicate  by  uniformly  writing  their  translation  of 
the  former  words  in  small  letters,  and  their  translation 
of  the  latter  in  capitals. 

Whatever  impression  or  inference  may  result  from 
this  usage  to  the  English  reader,  or  to  the  Israelite  who 
reads  the  original  under  the  same  views  which  influenced 
the  translation,  it  is  by  no  means  probable  that  either  of 
them  would  infer,  or  be  struck  with  the  impression,  that 
Adonai  was  a  distinctive  and  familiar  title  of  the  dele- 
gated One,  the  Messiah,  of  correlative  and  equivalent 
significance  as  a  Divine  designation  with  those  with 
which  it  is  indifferently  and  interchangeably  employed. 
For  the  further  illustration  of  this  point,  therefore,  the 
following  passages  are  cited: 


IN   MOSES   AND   THE   PROPHETS.  23 

In  Gen.  xviii.,  we  read  that  Jehovah  appeared  visibly 
to  Abraham  in  the  likeness  of  man,  i.  e.,  in  the  delegated 
official  Person,  Messiah.  In  "what  is  related  in  the  nar- 
rative as  having  been  said  or  done  by  him,  while  visibly 
present,  he  is  called  Jehovah ;  while  Abraham,  in  speak- 
ing to  him,  uniformly  calls  him  Adonai,  prays  to  him  as 
having  power  to  save  the  righteous  in  Sodom,  and  ad- 
dresses him  as  Judge  of  all  the  earth.  It  is  therefore 
manifest  that  the  two  designations,  Jehovah  and  Adonai, 
identify  the  same  Person ;  that  Abraham  speaks  to  him 
as  visibly  present ;  and  that  his  visible  presence  in  the 
likeness  of  man  determines  him  to  have  been  the  dele- 
gated One.  At  the  close  of  their  interview,  "Jehovah 
went  his  way,  and  Abraham  returned  to  his  place." 

When  the  personal  Word  came  to  Abram,  Gen.  xv., 
saying,  Fear  not,  I  am  thy  shield,  &c,  Abram,  reply- 
ing, verse  2,  calls  him  Adonai  Jehovah,  and  also  in 
verse  8 ;  while  in  verses  4,  6,  7,  and  18,  he  calls  him 
Jehovah.  Instances  like  that  in  chap,  xviii.,  and  others, 
would  seem  to  indicate  that  in  cases  of  local  visible 
manifestation  of  the  personal  Word,  designations  spe- 
cially appropriate  to  his  official  character  and  agency 
were  suggested  to  the  minds  of  the  beholders.  Thus 
Moses,  Exod.  iv.  10,  "  said  unto  Jehovah,  0  Adonai." 
The  Person  whom  he  addressed  was  the  Messenger  Je- 
hovah, who  had  appeared  to  him.  Again,  verse  13,  he 
says:  "O  Adonai."  In  other  parts  of  that  chapter,  the 
same  Person  is  called  Jehovah,  Elohim,  and  Elohe.  In 
Moses'  song,  chap.  xv.  17,  Jehovah  (that  is,  the  Mes- 
senger) and  the  Adonai  are  addressed  as  the  same  Per- 
son: "  Thou  shalt  bring  them  in  and  plant  them  in  the 
mountain  of  thine  inheritance ;  in  the  place,  O  Jehovah, 
which  thou  hast  made  for  thee  to  dwell  in;  in  the 
sanctuary,    0  Adonai,    which   thy  hands  have   estab- 


24  THE   MESSIAH 

lished."  So,  chap,  xxxiv.,  when  Jehovah  (the  Mes- 
senger) descended  and  manifested  the  glory  of  his 
Person  to  Moses,  and  proclaimed  himself  Jehovah  as 
he  passed  by,  Moses  bowed  and  worshipped;  and  he 
said :  "  If  now  I  have  found  grace  in  thy  sight,  0  Adonai, 
let  Adonai,  I  pray  thee,  go  among  us."  In  like  manner, 
Deut.  iii.  23,  24,  Moses,  praying  to  Jehovah,  addresses 
the  Adonai:  "And  I  besought  Jehovah  at  that  time, 
saying,  O  Adonai  Jehovah,  ...  I  pray  thee  let  me  go 
over  and  see  the  good  land."  Also,  chap.  ix.  26 :  "I 
prayed  therefore  unto  Jehovah,  and  said,  0  Adonai 
Jehovah,  destroy  not  thy  people,  and  thine  inheritance 
which  thou  hast  redeemed."  Once  more,  when,  after 
the  trespass  of  Achan,  the  Israelites  were  smitten,  Joshua 
fell  upon  his  face  before  the  ark  of  Jehovah,  and  said : 
"Alas!  O  Adonai  Jehovah.  .  .  .  0  Adonai,  what  shall 
I  say,"  &c.  Similar  instances  occur  in  the  prayers  of 
Gideon,  Manoah,  David,  and  the  prophets ;  and  through- 
out their  writings,  as  in  the  instances  quoted,  doubtless 
this  term  designates  the  Messenger  of  the  Covenant,  the 
Holy  One,  the  Christ;  and  whether  sometimes  substi- 
tuted by  copyists  for  the  word  Jehovah  or  not,  its  import 
is  the  same,  as  appears  from  the  connections  in  which  it 
occurs. 

At  the  interview  of  the  same  Divine  Person  with 
Gideon,  Judges  vi.,  he  is  called  Melach  Jehovah,  Je- 
hovah, Adonai,  Melach  the  Elohim,  and  Adonai  Jehovah 
Melach  Jehovah  came  and  sat  under  an  oak — appeared 
visibly — and  said  unto  Gideon,  Jehovah  is  with  thee. 
Gideon  replied,  O  Adonai,  if  Jehovah  be  with  us,  &c. 
Jehovah  looked  upon  him  and  said,  Go  in  this  thy  might. 
Gideon  answered,  O  Adonai,  wherewith  shall  I  save 
Israel?  Jehovah  said,  Surely  I  will  be  with  thee. 
Gideon  prepared  a  sacrifice.     Melach  the  Elohim  said, 


IN   MOSES   AND   THE    PROPHETS.  25 

Take  the  flesh,  &c.  Melach  Jehovah  touched  the  flesh 
with  his  staff.  Fire  rose  out  of  the  rock  and  consumed 
the  flesh.  Melach  Jehovah  departed  out  of  Gideon's 
sight,  Gideon  exclaimed,  Alas,  0  Adonai  Jehovah !  for 
I  have  seen  Melach  Jehovah  face  to  face.  Jehovah  said 
unto  him,  Peace  be  unto  thee. 

The  purport  of  the  expressions  in  this  narrative  may 
be  more  fully  represented  as  follows :  The  Melach,  (the 
Messenger,)  who  is  Jehovah,  came  in  the  form  of  a  way- 
faring man,  and  sat  down  under  an  oak  in  a  field  where 
Gideon  was,  and  said  unto  him,  Jehovah  is  with  thee. 
And  Gideon  said  to  him,  (Jehovah,)  O  Adonai,  &c. 
Jehovah  looked  upon  him  and  said,  Go  in  this  thy 
might,  &c.  Gideon  said  to  him,  0  Adonai,  where  with  shall 
I  save.  Israel?  Jehovah  said  to  him;  Surely  I  will  be 
with  thee.  Gideon  presented  a  sacrifice  to  him.  The 
Melach,  (or  Messenger,)  who  is  the  true  Elohim,  said  to 
Gideon,  Take  the  flesh,  &c,  and  lay  them  upon  this  rock, 
and  he  did  so.  Then  the  Melach,  (or  Messenger,)  who 
is  Jehovah,  put  forth  the  end  of  the  staff  that  was  in  his 
hand,  and  touched  the  flesh,  &c. ;  and  there  rose  up  fire 
out  of  the  rock  and  consumed  the  flesh,  &c.  Gideon 
said,  Alas,  O  Adonai  Jehovah!  for  I  have  seen  the 
Melach,  who  is  Jehovah,  face  to  face.  To  which  Jehovah 
replied,  Peace  be  unto  thee ;  fear  not,  &c.  Then  Gideon 
built  an  altar  there  unto  Jehovah. 

So  in  the  narrative  of  the  visible  appearance  of  the 
same  Divine  Person  to  Manoah  and  his  wife,  Judges 
xiii.,  where,  as  in  the  foregoing  and  other  parallel  in- 
stances, the  term  Melach  distinguishes  the  Divine  Person 
referred  to  as  present  and  seen.  The  Melach  (who-  is) 
Jehovah  appeared  unto  the  woman,  &c.  The  woman 
came  and  told  her  husband,  saying,  A  maw,  the  Elohim, 
came  unto  me,  and  his  countenance  was  like  the  coun- 
2 


26  TH»  MESSIAH 

tenance  of  the  Melach  (who  is)  the  Elohim,  <fcc.  Then 
Manoah  entreated  Jehovah,  and  said,  0  Adon,  let  the 
man,  the  Elohim  which  thou  didst  send,  come  again  unto 
us.  .  .  .  And  the  Elohim  hearkened  to  the  voice  of 
Manoah,  and  the  Melach,  the  (or  who  is  the)  Elohim,  came 
again  unto  the  woman  as  she  sat  in  the  field.  .  .  .  And 
she  ran  and  said  to  her  husband,  Behold  the  man  hath  ap- 
peared unto  me  that  came  unto  me  the  other  day.  .  .  . 
And  Manoah  came  and  said  unto  him,  Art  thou  the  man 
that  spakest  unto  the  woman  ?  And  he  said,  I  am.  .  .  . 
And  the  Melach  (who  is)  Jehovah  said  unto  Manoah, 
Of  all  that  I  said  unto  the  woman  let  her  beware.  And 
Manoah  said  to  the  Melach  (who  is)  Jehovah,  I  pray  thee, 
let  us  detain  thee,  until  we  shall  have  made  ready  a  kid 
for  thee.  And  the  Melach  (who  is)  Jehovah  said  unto 
Manoah,  Though  thou  detain  me,  I  will  not  eat  of  thy 
bread :  and  if  thou  wilt  offer  a  burnt  offering,  thou  must 
offer  it  unto  Jehovah.  For  Manoah  knew  not  that  he  was 
the  Melach  (who  is)  Jehovah.  ...  So  Manoah  took  a 
kid,  with  a  meat  offering,  and  offered  it  upon  a  rock  unto 
Jehovah.  And  ...  it  came  to  pass,  when  the  flame 
went  up  toward  heaven  from  off  the  altar,  that  the  Me- 
lach (who  is)  Jehovah  ascended  in  the  flame  of  the 
altar.  And  Manoah  and  his  wife  looked  on,  and  fell  on 
their  faces  to  the  ground,  &c.  Then  Manoah  knew  that 
he  was  the  Melach  (who  is)  Jehovah.  And  Manoah 
said  unto  his  wife,  TVe  shall  surely  die,  because  we  have 
seen  Elohim.  But  his  wife  said  unto  him.  If  Jehovah 
were  pleased  to  kill  us,  he  would  not  have  received  a 
burnt-offering  at  our  hands,  &c.  Nothing  surely  can  be 
more  evident  than  that  all  these  designations  refer  to  the 
one  delegated  official  Person — Messiah,  the  Messenger 
of  the  Covenant,  visible  in  the  form  of  man. 

Behold,  the  Adon,  Jehovah  Zebaoth,  doth  take  away 


IN    31  OSES    AND   THE    PROPHETS.  27 

from  Jerusalem  and  from  Judah  the  stay  and  the  staff, 
&c.     Isa.  iii.  1. 

Therefore  shall  the  Adon,  Adonai  Zebaoth,  send,  &c. 
Isa.  x.  16. 

Behold,  the  Adon,  Jehovah  Zebaoth,  shall  lop  the 
bough,  &c.     Isa.  x.  33. 

Tliou  (Abiatbar)  bearest  the  ark  of  Adonai  Jehovah. 
1  Kings  ii.  26. 

Thou  art  my  Elohe  and  my  Adonai.  Ps.  xxxv.  23. 

To  Jehovah  Adonai  belong  the  issues  from  death.  Ps. 
lxviii.  20. 

Let  not  them  that  wait  on  thee,  O  Adonai,  Jehovah 
Zebaoth,  be  ashamed.    Ps.  lxix.  6. 

Thou  art  my  hope,  O  Adonai  Jehovah.    Ps.  Ixxi.  5. 

But  do  thou  for  me,  0  Jehovah  Adonai,  for  thy 
name's  sake.     Ps.  cix.  21. 

0  Jehovah  Adonai,  the  strength  of  my  salvation. 
Ps.  cxl.  7. 

Mine  eyes' are-  unto  thee,  0  Jehovah  Adonai.  Ps. 
cxli.  8. 

The  phrases  "Thus  saith  Adonai  Jehovah  Zebaoth," 
"Adonai  Jehovah,"  and  "Adonai  Zebaoth,"  occur  in  very 
numerous  instances  in  the  prophets.  Probably  in  all 
such  formulas  the  sense  would  be  more  perfectly  ex- 
pressed by  interposing  the  words  who  is,  or  who  art : 
as,  The  Adon  who  is  Jehovah  of  hosts;  2  he  Adon  who  is 
the  Adonai  of  hosts ;  The  ark  of  Adonai,  who  is  Jehovah. 
It  is  evidently  by  way  of  explanation,  illustration,  and 
emphasis,  that  two  or  more  designations  are  so  conjoined. 

Some  critics,  probably  from  regarding  the  terms 
Adonai  and  Adon  as  of  inferior  significance  to  Jehovah 
and  Elohim,  when  employed  as  Divine  designations, 
imagine  that  the  Jewish  copyists  substituted  the  former 
in  place  of  the  latter,  or  in  place  of  Jehovah,  to  avoid  the 


28  THE   MESSIAH 

enunciation  of  that  sacred  name.  No  supposition  could 
well  be  more  improbable  than  this,  whether  considered 
in  relation  to  the  subject-matter,  or  to  the  reason  assigned 
for  it.  In  relation  to  the  subject,  it  would  imply  a 
general  consent  among  copyists,  Jewish  readers,  priests 
and  rabbies,  and  Gentile  proselytes,  as  to  the  instances 
in  which  such  a  surreptitious  change  should  be  made, 
received,  and  sanctioned.  And  as  to  the  alleged  reason, 
if  it  was  a  real  and  sufficient  reason  in  a  single  instance, 
or  in  many  instances,  why  not  in  all  ?  Why  suppress 
the  fearful  name,  and  substitute  a  term  of  inferior  or 
doubtful  import  in  some  cases,  and  allow  it  to  retain  its 
place  in  a  far  greater  number  of  cases  ?  But  the  ground- 
lessness of  the  supposition  referred  to  is  sufficiently  shown 
by  the  fact  that,  in  the  passages  above  cited,  and  in 
many  others,  the  several  designations,  Adonai,  Adon, 
Jehovah,  and  Elohim,  are  employed  conjointly  in  the 
same  sentences,  with  reference  to  the  same  Person,  and 
as  of  equivalent  import  as  Divine  designations. 

The  same  Divine  Person,  the  Messiah,  the  Adminis- 
trator and  Kevealer,  manifested  himself  to  the  inspired 
writers  in  various  ways,  and  in  different  aspects  of  his 
person  and  relations :  to  their  faith  as  the  self-existent, 
omnipresent  Jehovah  ;  to  their  senses  in  his  complex, 
official  person,  and  delegated,  covenant  relations,  the 
Messenger,  visible  in  the  likeness  of  man,  Adonai,  the 
Adon. 

Thus  Daniel,  chap.  x.  16, 17 :  "  One  like  the  similitude 
of  the  sons  of  men  touched  my  lips  ;  then  I  opened  my 
mouth  and  spake,  and  said  unto  him  that  stood  before 
me,  O  Adonai !  .  .  .  .  how  can  the  servant  of  this 
Adonai  talk  with  this  Adonai?"  And  Amos,  chap,  vii., 
relates  that  he  saiv  the  Adonai  standing  on  a  wall,  with 
i  plumb-line  in  his  hand,  and  that  the  Adonai  spoke  to 


IN    MOSES   AND  THE   PROPHETS.  29 

and  was  answered  by  him.  The  context  shows  that, 
though  appearing  visibly  as  a  man,  he  exercised  Divine 
prerogatives.  Again,  chap.  ix.  1 :  "I  saw  the  Adonai 
standing  upon  the  altar."  Afterwards  he  speaks  as  Je- 
hovah, and,  verse  16,  utters  the  prediction,  quoted  Acts 
xv.  16,  that,  after  the-  Gentile  dispensation,  "I  will  re- 
turn and  will  build  again  the  tabernacle  of  David  which 
is  fallen  down,  .  .  .  and  I  will  set  it  up." 

In  the  first  chapter  of  Zechariah  the  following  Divine 
designations  occur :  Jehovah,  Jehovah  Zebaoth,  Adonai, 
the  Melach,  and  Melach  Jehovah.  The  Person  locally 
present  and  visible,  who  in  the  9th  verse  is  called  Adonai 
and  the  .Melach,  in  the  11th  and  12th  verses  Melach 
Jehovah,  and  in  the  13th,  14th,  and  19th  verses  the 
Melach',  is  in  the  8th  and  10th  verses  called  a  man.  I 
saw  by  night  and  behold,  a  man  .  .  .  among  the  myrtle 
trees,  v.  8.  And  the  nuin  that  stood  among  the  myrtle 
trees  answered,  v.  9.  And  they  answered  the  Melach  Je- 
hovah that  stood  among  the  myrtle  trees,  v.  11. 

But  the  prophet  on  seeing  the  man,  v.  8,  addresses 
him  as  Adonai.  "Then  said  I,  O  Adonai!  what  are 
these?"  And  the  Melach  answered,  &c.  v.  9.  In  the 
progress  of  the  ensuing  colloquy,  the  visible  Person,  in 
the  form  of  man,  the  Melach,  the  Melach  who  is  Jehovah, 
speaks  to  and  of  Jehovah  and  Jehovah  Zebaoth,  as  the 
Messiah  did  when  visibly  present  incarnate  in  man's 
nature  on  earth ;  and  an  audible  response  was  in  like 
manner  given.     See  v.  10,  12,  18. 

Illustrations  of  the  same  usage  might  be  adduced  from 
almost  every  part  of  the  Old  Testament,  where  the 
Messiah,  as  announced  by  designations  peculiar  to  his 
complex  official  Person  and  character,  and  as  visibly 
present,  speaks  to  and  of  himself,  and  also  to  and  of 
the  Father,  under  designations  which  refer  only  to  the 


30  THE   MESSIAH 

Divine  Nature.  The  same  is  customary  likewise  with 
the  prophets.  Thus  David,  Ps.  ex.:  "Jehovah  (the 
Father)  saith  to  Adonai,  (the  Messiah,  as  is  declared  in 
the  New  Testament,)  Sit  thou  at  my  right  hand,''  &c. 
And  Ps.  ii. :  Why  do  the  heathen  rage  ?  .  .  .  and  the 
rulers  take  counsel  against  Jehovah  and  against  the  An- 
ointed, or  Messiah,  v.  1,  2.  The  Adonai  shall  have  them 
in  derision,  v.  4.  I  (the  Messiah)  will  declare  the  decree : 
Jehovah  hath  said  unto  me,  Thou  art  my  Son,  &c,  v.  7. 

The  exceeding  confusion  which  obscures  our  common 
version  of  Zechariah,  and  especially  of  the  first  chapter, 
implies  that  the  translators  did  not  understand  the  des- 
ignations above  quoted,  a  man,  the  Melach,  Melach  Jeho- 
vah, and  Adonai,  as  referring  to  one  and  the  same  per- 
son, nor  all  or  any  of  them  as  referring  to  the  official 
Person,  Messiah. 

In  chapter  ii.,  the  Melach  is  the  Divine  speaker 
throughout:  "And  behold  the  Melach  that  talked  with 
me  (see  i.  9)  went  forth,  and  another  angel  (a  messenger) 
went  out  to  meet  him ;  and  He  {the  Melach)  said  an  to 
him,  (i.  e.,  to  the  messenger,)  Run,"  &c.  v.  3,  4.  Here, 
according  to  our  version,  the  other  angel  is  made  to 
direct  the  Melach  who  is  Jehovah  (see  i.  9,  11,  12)  to 
run,  &c,  by  the  omission  of  the  relative  He,  as  printed 
in  capitals  above  ;  which,  it  is  obvious  from  the  original, 
and  also  from  the  ensuing  context,  ought  to  be  retained. 
For  after  directing  the  approaching  messenger  to  run, 
&c,  he  proceeds  :  "  For  I,  saith  Jehovah,  will  be  unto 
her,  Jerusalem,  a  wall  of  fire  round  about,  and  will  be  the 
glory  in  the  midst  of  her:"  the  reference  of  which  is 
further  evidence  that  the  speaker  is  the  Messiah,  here 
designated  the  Melach  and  Jehovah.  The  same  speaker, 
continuing  to  the  end  of  the  chapter,  treats  of  the  dis- 
persion, preservation,  and  subsequent  restoration  of  the 


IN   MOSES  AND   THE   PROPHETS.  31 

Israelites,    and    reestablishment   of    Jerusalem   as  his 
dwelling-place. 

Throughout  the  remainder  of  the  book,  the  Divine 
Person  speaking  to  the  prophet  is  the  same  as  the  man, 
the  Melach,  the  Adonai,  the  Melach  Jehovah,  of  the  first 
chapter.  He  announces  what  is  said  by  Jehovah,  and 
Jehovah  Zebaoth ;  his  rebuke  of  Satan,  hi.  2 ;  his 
promise  of  The  Branch,  referring  to  the  Messiah  as  he 
was  to  be  manifested  incarnate,  iii.  8,  and  vi.  12.  In 
various  places  the  prophet  designates  the  Melach,  and 
Jehovah  as  his  Adonai,  and  as  the  Adon  of  the  whole 
earth,  iv.  4,  5,  13,  14 ;  vi.  4,  5 ;  ix.  4.  Adonai  Jehovah, 
ix.  14,  and  Jehovah  their  Elohe,  ix.  16,  x.  6,  declares 
that  the  man  whose  name  is  The  Branch  shall  build 
the  temple  of  Jehovah,  and  shall  sit  and  rule  upon  his 
throne,  and  shall  be  a  Priest  upon  his  throne,  &c,  vi. 
12,  13.  That  it  was  Jehovah  who  was  prized  at  thirty 
pieces  of  silver,  i.  e.,  Jehovah  says  of  himself,  as  Mes- 
siah, that  he  was  so  prized,  xi.  13.  Represents  Elohim 
and  Melach  Jehovah  as  equivalent ;  identifies  Jehovah 
Zebaoth  with  the  Shepherd,  the  man  that  is  his  fellow, 
xiii.  7.  Jehovah  whose  feet  shall  stand  upon  the  mount 
of  Olives  which  is  before  Jerusalem,  xiv.  4.  Jehovah 
who  shall  be  King  over  all  the  earth,  xiv.  9.  The  King 
Jehovah  Zebaoth,  whom  all  nations  shall  worship. 

The  term  Zebaoth,  Hosts,  coupled  with  the  Divine 
designations,  points  to  the  official  Person,  the  Messiah, 
evidently  in  many,  and  probably  in  all  instances.  Thus 
He  who,  in  Isaiah  vi.,  is  called  Adonai,  the  King,  Je- 
hovah Zebaoth,  is  by  the  apostle  John  referred  to  as 
the  Messiah.  He  who  wrestled  with  Jacob  as  a  man, 
Gen.  xxxii.,  is  called  by  Hosea  (chap,  xii.)  the  Messenger, 
and  Jehovah  Elohe  Zebaoth.  It  was  the  Messiah  who, 
with  Moses,  was  with   the  church   in  the  wilderness. 


82  THE   MESSIAH 

(Acts  vii.  38.)  The  Melach,  or  Messenger,  who  dwelt  in 
the  cloud  and  between  the  cherubim,  (Exod.  xiv.  19,) 
over  the  ark  of  Adonai  (who  is)  Jehovah.  (Isa.  iii.  15.) 
The  ark  of  the  Elohim  (who  is)  Jehovah  that  dwelleth 
between  the  cherubim.  (1  Chron.  xiii.  6.)  The  ark  of 
the  Elohim,  whose  name  is  Jehovah  Zebaoth.  (2  Samuel 
vi.  2.)  The  Adon  (who  is)  Jehovah  Zebaoth.  (Isa.  iii. 
1.)  The  Adon  (who. is)  Adonai  Zebaoth.  (Isa.  x.  16.) 
The  Adonai  (who  is)  Jehovah  Zebaoth.  (Isa.  x.  23,  24.) 
This  term  is  coupled  with  these  designations  more 
than  three  hundred  times,  chiefly  in  the  prophets  after 
the  defection  of  the  tribes  to  the  worship  of  Baal  as 
the  Lord  of  the  hosts  of  heaven,  in  opposition  to  Je- 
hovah Zebaoth. 

A  personal  reference  to  the  Messiah  is  evidently  in- 
tended in  numerous  instances  b}^  the  term  rendered  in 
our  version  Holy  One  ;  as  is  often  manifest  from  its 
connection  with  other  designations,  'and  from  the  per- 
sonal acts  or  relations  mentioned.     Thus  Isaiah  xliii.: 
"  I  am  Jehovah,  thy  Elohe,  the  Holy  One  of  Israel,  thy 
Saviour:  I  gave  Egypt  for  thy  ransom.     Fear  not,  for 
I  am  with  thee.    (v.  3.)     Thus   saith  Jehovah,  your 
Redeemer,  [Goel,]  the  Holy  One  of  Israel,  (v.  14,)  I  am 
Jehovah,  your  Holy  One,  the  Creator  of  Israel,  your 
King,"  (15.)     Chap.  xli.  14:  "I  will  help  thee,  saith 
Jehovah,  thy  Redeemer,  [Goel,]  the  Holy  One  of  IsraeL" 
v.  20:   "  The  hand  of  Jehovah  hath  done  this,  and  the 
Holy  One  of  Israel  hath  created  it."     xlvii.  4:  "As  for 
our  Redeemer,  [Goel,]  Jehovah  Zebaoth  is  his  name,  the 
Holy  One  of  Israel."     xlviii.  17:  "Thus  saith  Jehovah, 
thy  Redeemer,  [Goel,]  the  Holy  One  of  Israel,  I  am  Je- 
hovah thy  Elohe,  which  tcacheth  thee  to  profit,  which 
leadeth  thee  by  the  way  that  thou  shouldest  go."  xlix. 
7:   "Thus  saith  Jehovah,  the  Redeemer  [Goel]  of  Israel, 


IN   MOSES   AND   THE    PROPHETS.  33 

his  Holy  Oner  liv.  5 :  "Thy  Maker  is  thy  husband, 
Jehovah  Zebaoth  is  his  name,  and  thy  Redeemer,  [Goel,] 
the  Holy  One  of  Israel;  the  Elohe  of  the  whole  earth 
shall  he  be  called."  lx.  14:  "  They  shall  call  thee,  The 
city  of  Jehovah,  The  Zion  of  the  Holy  One  of  Israel." 
2  Kings  xix. :  "Whom  hast  thou  reproached  and 
blasphemed?  and  against  whom  bast  thou  exalted  thy 
voice,  and  lifted  up  thine  eyes  on  high?  even  against 
the  Holy  One  of  Israel.  By  thy  messengers  thou  hast 
reproached  Adonai."  Ezek.  xxxix.  7:  "The  heathen 
shall  know  that  I  am  Jehovah,  the  Holy  One  in  Israel.' 
Ps.  lxxxix.  18,  19:  "Jehovah  is  our  defence,  and  the 
Holy  One  of  Israel  is  our  King.  Then  thou  spakest  in 
vision  to  thy  Holy  One? 

That  "The  Holy  One,"  "Jehovah,"  and  "The  Mes- 
siah," are  the  same,  is  taught  in  various  other  passages. 
Thus  in  the  first  instance  in  which  the  title  occurs,  Deut. 
xxxiii.  8,  constituting  in  part  the  blessing  on  the  sacer- 
dotal tribe,  and  containing  a  reference  to  other  passages: 
"And  of  Levi  he  said,  Let  thy  Thummim  and  thy  Urim 
be  with  thy  Holy  One,  whom  thou  didst  prove  at  Mas- 
sah,  and  with  whom  thou  didst  strive  at  the  waters  of 
Meribah."  But  He  whom  they  proved  at  Massah,  and 
with  whom  they  strove  at  Meribah,  was  Jehovah.  "And 
Moses  called  the  name  of  the  place  Massah,  and  Meribah, 
because  of  the  chiding  of  the  children  of  Israel,  and 
because  they  tempted  Jehovah,  saying,  Is  Jehovah 
among  us  or  not?"  Exod.  xvii.  7.  "Ye  shall  not 
tempt  Jehovah  your  Elohe,  as  ye  tempted  him  in  Mas- 
sah." Deut.  vi.  16.  "  This  is  the  water  of  Meribah, 
because  the  children  of  Israel  strove  with.  Jehovah." 
Numb.  xx.  13.  "At  .  .  .  Massah  ...  ye  provoked 
Jehovah  to  wrath."  Deut.  ix.  22.  Now,  we  learn 
from  1  Cor.  x.  and  Heb.  iii.,  compared  with  Ps.  lxxviii., 
2* 


34  THE   MESSIAH 

xc  v.,  and  cvi.,  that  it  was  the  Messiah  whom  they  tempted : 
"  Neither  let  us  tempt  Christ  as  some  of  them  also 
tempted."  ..."  Harden  not  your  hearts  as  in  the  pro- 
vocation, in  the  day  of  temptation  in  the  wilderness, 
where  your  fathers  tempted  me  ;"  that  is,  Christ,  as  the 
context  shows. 

"Thou  wilt  not  suffer  thine  Holy  One  to  see  corrup- 
tion," Ps.  xvi.  10  ;  quoted  with  the  context,  Acts  ii.,  as 
designating  Christ:  "For  David  speaketk  concerning 
Him,"  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  "I  foresaw  the  Lord  always 

before  my  face Neither  wilt  thou  suffer  thine 

Holy  One  to  see  corruption."  Again,  Acts  xiii.,  in  proof 
of  the  resurrection  of  Christ  as  predicted:  "Where- 
fore he  saith  also  in  another  Psalm,  Thou  shalt  not 
suffer  thine  Holy  One  to  see  corruption."  So  the  Christ 
is  recognized  in  various  other  passages  as  the  Holy  One. 
"  I  know  thee  who  thou  art,  the  Holy  One  of  God." 
Mark  i.  24,  Luke  iv.  34.  "  But  ye  denied  the  Holy  One 
and  the  Just,  .  .  .  and  killed  the  Prince  of  Life."  Acts 
iii.  14. 

Of  the  passages,  besides  those  above  cited,  in  which 
he  is  identified  with  Jehovah,  the  Creator,  the  Redeemer, 
Saviour,  and  King,  a  few  are  subjoined.  The  remnant 
of  Israel  "shall  stay  upon  Jehovah,  the  Holy  One 
of  Israel."  Isaiah  x.  20.  "At  that  day  shall  a  man 
look  to  his  Maker,  and  his  eyes  shall  have  respect  to 
the  Holy  One  of  Israel."  Ibid.  17.  "  Thus  saith  the 
Holy  One  of  Israel.  .  .  .  Thus  saith  Jehovah  Elohim, 
the  Holy  One  of  Israel."  Ibid.  30.  "The  hand  of  Je- 
hovah hath  done  this,  and  the  Holy  One  of  Israel  hath 
created  it."  Ibid.  41.  "  Thus  saith  Jehovah,  the  Holy 
One  of  Israel,  and  his  Maker."     Ibid.  45. 

It  is  thus  evident  that  the  appellations,  Jehovah,  Elo- 
him, Elohe,  Jehovah  Zebaoth,  Redeemer,  Saviour,  King, 


IN    MOSES   AND   THE   PROPHETS.  35 

Creator,  Maker,  the  Holy  One,  and  the  Christ,  are  in- 
differently applied  to  designate  one  and  the  same  Person. 
The  term  Messiah,  the  Anointed,  though  familiar  to 
the  Jews  of  ancient  and  modern  times,  occurs  but  a  few 
times  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  as  a  designation  of  him. 
The  appropriation  of  the  term  seems  to  have  arisen  from 
the  custom  of  anointing  the  Levitical  priests  to  a  min- 
istry typical  of  the  sacerdotal  ministry  of  Christ,  and  that 
of  anointing  their  kings  to  their  office  as  typical  of  his 
regal  office.  With  reference  to  those  priests  and  kings 
it  is  therefore  often  used ;  but  as  a  designation  of  the 
Christ  not  perhaps  more  than  five  or  six  times:  as 
in  1  Sam.  ii.  10,  35 ;  Ps.  ii.  2,  lxxxiv.  9 ;  Dan.  ix. 
25,  26.  The  import  of  the  phrase  "Holy  One"  is  so 
nearly  similar,  as  very  probably  to  have  been  employed 
in  place  of  this.  This  designation  occurs  in  about  thirty 
instances  in  the  prophecies  of  Isaiah,  and  frequently 
elsewhere.  Like  several  other  appellations,  it  is  employed 
exclusively  as  a  designation  of  the  Christ,  and  is  not, 
like  "  Messiah,"  applied  to  those  who  are  anointed  and 
consecrated  to  typify  his  offices. 

El-Shadai,  Almighty,  in  like  manner  designates  the 
Messiah.  The  Messenger  Jehovah  who  appeared  to 
Moses  in  the  bush,  and  who  speaking  to  him  afterwards 
is  called  Jehovah  and  Elohim,  said,  Exod.  vi.  3 :  "I 
appeared  unto  Abraham,  unto  Isaac,  and  unto  Jacob, 
by  the  name  El-Shadai."  "Jacob  said  unto  Joseph,  El- 
Shadai  appeared  unto  me  at  Luz,  .  .  .  and  blessed 
me."  Gen.  xlviii.  3.  But  when  he  was  first  at  Luz, 
Jehovah  visibly  appeared  to  him  in  the  vision  of  a  ladder. 
Gen.  xxviii.  It  was  an  appearance  doubtless  of  the 
Messenger  Jehovah.  And  in  a  subsequent  instance, 
Gen.  xxxv.,  the  Elohim  appeared  to  him,  blessed  him, 
and  changed  his  name  to  Israel.     "  And  the  Elohim  said 


86  THE   MESSIAH 

unto  him,  1  am  El-Shadai.  .  .  .  And  the  Elohim  -went 
up  from  him  in  the  place  where  he  talked  with  him." 
This,  therefore,  was  a  local  personal  appearance  of  the 
Messenger  of  the  Covenant.  Shadai  was  a  familiar  de- 
signation in  the  patriarchal  period.  It  occurs  frequently 
in  Job.  In  the  New  Testament  it  is  applied  to  Christ. 
"  I  am  Alpha  and  Omega,  .  .  .  saith  the  Lord,  which  is, 
and  which  was,  and  which  is  to  come,  the  Almighty." 
Eev.  i.  8,  iv.  8,  and  xi.  17. 

A  similar  illustration  is  furnished  by  the  designations, 
Mighty  God,  Living  God,  God  of  Israel,  High  God, 
Most  High  God,  God  of  heaven,  Lord  God,  and  other 
formulas  of  frequent  occurrence. 

There  are  a  considerable  number  of  instances  in  which 
the  Personal  Word  appears  to  be  designated  by  the 
phrase  Dabar  Jehovah,  translated  the  Word  of  the  Lord. 
The  u  Dabar  Jehovah  came  untoAbram  in  a  vision,  say- 
ing, Fear  not,  Iain  thy  shield,  &c.  And  Abram  said,  Ado- 
nai  Jehovah,  what  will  thou  give  me  ?  .  .  .  And  behold 
Dabar  Jehovah  (came)  unto  him,  saying."  (The  word 
came  in  this  clause  is  not  in  the  original.  "  Dabar  Je- 
hovah said  unto  him,"  would  perhaps  be  more  correct.) 
"And  he  [Dabar  Jehovah]  brought  him  forth  abroad 
and  said,  Look  now  towards  heaven.  .  .  .  And  he  be- 
lieved in  Jehovah,"  (in  the  "Word  Jehovah,  Chaldee  Par.) 
Gen.  xv.  Here  personal  acts  appear  to  be  ascribed  to 
Dabar — the  Word.  It  was  a  person  who  conversed  with 
Abram  and  brought  him  forth  abroad ;  as  is  observed 
on  a  subsequent  occasion. 

"  Dabar  Jehovah  came  to  Jacob,  saying,  Israel  shall 
be  thy  name."  1  Kings  xviii.  31.  But  in  Gen.  xxxii. 
we  read  that  "there  wrestled  a  man  with  Jacob,  and  he 
said,  Thy  name  shall  be  called  no  more  Jacob,  but 
Israel."     Here,  then,  the  visible  person  who,  in  the  form 


IN   MOSES   AND   THE   PROPHETS.  37 

of  man,  -wrestled  Avith  Jacob,  and  who  is,  by  Hose  a, 
chap,  xii.,  denominated  the  Messenger  and  the  Jehovah 
Zebaoth,  is  called  Dabar  Jehovah,  the  Personal  "Word. 

"Now  Dabar  Jehovah  came  unto  Jonah,  .  .  .  say- 
ing, [or,  and  said,]  Arise,  go  to  Nineveh,  that  great 
city,  and  cry  against  it,  for  their  wickedness  is  come 
up  before  me.  But  Jonah  rose  up  to  flee  unto  Tarshish 
from  the  presence  of  Jehovah,  and  he  found  a  ship  and 
went  down  into  it  to  go  unto  Tarshish  from  the  presence 
of  Jehovah."  Chap.  i.  "  And  Dabar  Jehovah  came  unto 
Jonah  the  second  time,  saying,  Arise,  go  unto  Nine- 
veh." iii.  1,  2.  These  passages  indicate  a  personal  and 
visible  presence.  How  else  could  Jonah  attempt  to 
conceal  himself  by  flight  ?  In  the  context  the  Personal 
Word  who  thus  came  is  identified  with  Jehovah,  who 
speaks  and  is  addressed  as  one  locally  and  visibly  pres- 
ent. 

"  Now  Samuel  did  not  yet  know  Jehovah,  neither 
was  Dabar  Jehovah  yet  revealed  unto  him."  1  Sam. 
iii.  7.  No  manifestation  of  the  Personal  Word  had  been 
made  to  him.  "  And  Jehovah  appeared  again  in  Shiloh : 
for  Jehovah  revealed  himself  to  Samuel  in  Shiloh  by 
Dabar  Jehovah."  Ibid.  v.  21.  "  Then  came  Dabar  Je- 
hovah to  Samuel,  saying,It  repenteth  me,  &c."  Ibid.  xv. 
10.  "  It  was  charged  me  by  Dabar  Jehovah.  ...  It 
was  said  to  me  by  Dabar  Jehovah."  1  Kings  xiii.  9, 
17.  "And  Elijah  came  to  a  cave  and  lodged  there; 
and  behold,  Dabar  Jehovah  came  to  him,  and  he  said 
unto  him,  What  dost  thou  here,  Elijah  ?  .  .  .  And  he 
said,  Go  forth  and  stand  upon  the  mount  before  Jeho- 
vah. And  behold,  Jehovah  passed  by."  1  Kings  xix. 
9,  11.  "  Dabar  Jehovah  came  to  Jeremiah,  saying,  Be- 
fore I  formed  thee,  I  knew  thee.  .  .  .  Then  said  I,  Ah, 
Adonai  Jehovah!  behold  I  cannot  speak.  .  .  .  Then 


38  THE   MESSIAH 

Jehovah  put  forth.  his  hand  and  touched  m y  mouth.  .  .  . 
Moreover,  Dabar  Jehovah  came  unto  me,  saying,  [or, 
and  said,]  What  seest  thou  ?  .  .  .  And  Dabar  Jehovah 
came  unto  me  the  second  time,"  &c.     Jer.  i. 

Such  are  some  of  the  instances  in  which  this  term  ap- 
pears to  be  employed  as  a  personal  designation.  The 
meaning  and  reference  of  such  use  of  it  appear  to  have 
been  familiar  both  to  the  earlier  and  later  Jews.  See 
the  chapters  relating  to  the  Chaldee  Paraphrases. 


CHAPTER    III. 

Reasons  for  rendering  the  formula,  "  Melach  Jehovah,"  the  Messenger 
(who  is)  Jehovah;  and  not  the  Angel,  or  an  Angel  of  the  Lord. 

An  examination  of  the  numerous  passages  in  which 
the  denominative  Melach  is  coupled  with  the  name  Je- 
hovah, or  Elohim,  or  used  interchangeably  with  those 
names,  renders  it  conclusively  manifest  that  in  each  and 
every  instance  the  reference  is  to  one  and  the  same  offi- 
cial Person.  This,  however,  is  not  entirely  obvious  from 
our  common  version,  owing  to  the  circumstance  that 
the  translators  rendered  the  formula,  Melach  Jehovah, 
the  angel,  or  sometimes  an  angel  of  the  Lord.  The 
word  Jehovah,  in  the  original,  never  has  the  article ; 
nor  the  word  Melach,  when  coupled  with  Jehovah, 
though  when  employed  alone  to  designate  the  same  offi- 
cial Person,  the  article  is  sometimes  prefixed,  as  in  Gen. 
xlviii.  16 :  "  The  Melach,  which  redeemed  me."  The 
word  Elohim  often  has  the  article,  and  retains  it  in 
most  of  the  instances  in  which  the  formula  Melach  Elohim 


IN   MOSES  AND   THE    PROPHETS.  39 

occurs,  requiring  it  to  be  read,  Melach  the,  or  who  is  the, 
Elohim.  See  some  twelve  instances  in  the  book  of 
Ezra,  and  more  than  twenty  in  Nehemiah,  where  there 
was  a  special  occasion  to  distinguish  the  true  from  the 
false  God.  In  the  formula,  Melach  Jehovah,  there  is 
nothing  in  the  original  to  forbid  the  two  words  being 
considered  as  in  apposition,  and  the  rendering  conse- 
quently the  Messenger  Jehovah,  or  the  Messenger  who  is 
Jehovah.  And.  that  such  should  be  the  rendering,  in- 
stead of  the  angel  or  messenger  of  Jehovah,  is  apparent 
from  the  following  considerations : 

1st.  That  the  Person  identified,  by  this  name  of  office  is 
Jehovah,  as  is  shown  by  the  use,  in  numerous  passages, 
of  the  two  names  interchangeably.  The  word.  Melach, 
it  maybe  observed,  is,  when  coupled  with  the  name  Je- 
hovah, and  when  used  separately  or  interchangeably, 
with  the  same  personal  reference,  always  in.  the  singular 
number ;  and,  when  coupled  with  that  name,  generally 
precedes  it;  by  which  circumstances,  and  the  relations 
in  which  it  occurs  separately,  all  confusion  as  to  its  re- 
ference is  precluded. 

2d.  From  the  consideration  that  this  rendering  cor- 
responds with  the  official  character  of  the  Person  desig- 
nated. His  office  is  that  of  a  messenger,  sent  of  the 
Father — the  Mediator,  the  Christ.  The  designation  in 
question  is  in  no  instance  applied  to  any  created  angel, 
and  no  doubt  it  was  intended  to  distinguish  the  dele- 
gated Person  from  the  Father  who  sent  him.  But  to 
render  it,  the  angel  or  messenger  of  Jehovah,  especially 
in  sentences  in  which  the  Person  designated  is  called 
Melach  Jehovah,  and  also  called  Jehovah,  Adonai,  or 
Elohim,  is  not  to  distinguish  but  to  confuse. 

3d.  This  rendering  comports  with  the  official  agency 
of  the  delegated  Person,  as  the  creator,  upholder,  law- 


40  THE   MESSIAH 

giver,  and  ruler  of  all  creatures.  The  Avorks  ascribed 
to  him  are,  in  the  same  sentences  and  connections,  as- 
cribed to  Jehovah. 

4th.  It  comports  with  the  designation  by  which,  when 
he  became  incarnate,  he  was  familiarly  known,  and  which 
is  translated  Lord,  as  the  equivalent  of  the  name  Jehovah 
in  Hebrew.  Thus,  Luke  ii.  11,  he  is  announced  as  the 
"Saviour,  which  is  Christ  the  Lord."  Campbell  renders 
it,  The  Lord  Messiah.  The  sense  is  the  same  as  that  of  Je- 
hovah who  is  the  Messiah,  or  the  Messenger  who  is  Jehovah, 
or  the  Anointed  who  is  Jehovah.  Again,  when  Thomas 
saw  him  after  his  resurrection,  he  exclaimed,  "  My  Lord 
and  my  God  " — my  Jehovah  and  my  Elohe.     John  xx. 

5th.  It  comports  with  Hebrew  usage  in  other  cases. 
The  instances  are  common  in  which  particular  persons 
are  designated  by  two  words  in  apposition,  indicating 
different  characteristics.  Thus,  1  Kings  iv.  1 :  "So 
king  Solomon  was  king  over  all  Israel ;"  literally,  so 
was  the  king,  Solomon  (or,  who  is  Solomon)  king,  &c. 
Ibid.  vii.  13,  14 :  And  the  king,  Solomon,  sent  and 
fetched  Hiram,  son  of  a  woman,  a  widow — i.  e.,  a  woman 
who  was  a  widoio ;  and  xvii.«  9,  a  woman  {who  is)  a 
widow.  Deut.  xxii.  23,  28  :  A  damsel,  a  virgin — i.  e.,  a 
damsel  who  is  a  virgin. 

When  the  article  is  prefixed  to  the  word  Elohim,  it 
often  and  perhaps  always  is  meant  expressly  to  distin- 
guish the  True  God  from  the  false  ;  as  when  the  people, 
seeing  the  triumph  of  Elijah  over  the  prophets  of  Baal, 
exclaimed,  "Jehovah,  he  is  the  Elohim  :"  he,  and  not 
the  pretended  Elohim  of  idolaters,  is  the  true  God.  The 
import  of  the  formula,  Jehovah  Elohim,  is  Jehovah  the 
true  Elohim,  and  is  not  clearly  or  fully  expressed  by  the 
translation  Lord  God,  any  more  than  it  would  be  by  a 
repetition  of  one  or  the  other  of  those  words.     The 


IN   MOSES   AND  THE   PROPHETS.  41 

meaning  is,  Jehovah  zoho  is  the  true  God.  So  Melach  Je- 
hovah, the  respective  terms  referring  indisputably  to  the 
same  person,  means,  the  Messenger  who  is  Jehovah . 

But  our  translators  render  Melach  Jehovah,  the  angel 
of  the  Lord,  as  though  the  angel  was  a  created  agent ; 
or,  as  though  Jehovah  in  this  connection  was  the  Father. 
McCaul,  in  his  observations  on  Kimchi's  translation  of 
Zechariah,  defends  this  rendering:  First,  on  the  ground, 
that  if  the  words  Melach  Jehovah  are  in  apposition,  the 
translation  should  be,  not,  the  Angel  Jehovah,  but  an 
angel,  or  a  Messenger  Jehovah.  But,  since  the  word 
Jehovah  never  admits  the  article,  and  since  in  the  form- 
ula in  question  the  word  Melach  never  admits  it,  no 
reason  can  be  assigned  whj  the  rendering  should  not 
be  the  Angel,  or  the  Messenger  Jehovah  ;  it  being  admit- 
ted that  one  and  the  same  Person  is  uniformly  desig- 
nated by  this  formula.  On  the  contrary,  if  this  objec- 
tion were  well  founded,  then  in  rendering  the  word 
Jehovah,  where  it  occurs  alone,  it  should  read  in  English, 
a  Lord,  instead  of  the  Lord. 

Moreover,  if  his  criticisms  were  well  founded,  such  a 
passage  as  2  Chron.  xxxii.  21,  where  the  order  of  the 
designations  is  Jehovah  Melach,  would  require  to  be  ren- 
dered, Lord  of  the  angel,  instead  of  Jehovah  the  Messen- 
ger, or  the  Jehovah  Messenger.  The  statement  in  the 
text  just  quoted  from  2  Chronicles  is  repeated  in  Isaiah 
xxxvii.  36,  where  the  order  of  the  words  in  question  is 
Melach  Jehovah.  Again,  the  formula,  (the)  Elohim  Me- 
lach, occurs  in  1  Chron.  xxi.  15,  and  also  in  that  and  the 
next  verse, Melach  Jehovah,  referring  to  the  same  Person. 

2d.  He  urges  that  if  the  words  Melach  Jehovah  were 
to  be  rendered  the  Angel  Jehovah,  then  we  should  ex- 
pect to  find  the  article  before  the  word  Melach;  be- 
cause, he  says,  the  word  Adon  uniformly  has  it  when 


42  THE    MESSIAH 

employed  to  designate  Jehovah.  But  this  is  a  misstate- 
ment. When  so  employed,  that  word,  in  its  different 
forms,  is  generally  without  the  article  ;  as  Joshua  iii.  11 
and  13  :  "  The  ark  of  the  covenent  of  Adon"  translated 
the  Lord,  "  of  all  the  earth."  "  The  ark  of  Adon  Jeho- 
vah, Adon  of  all  the  earth,"  rendered  in  our  version, 
"  the  ark  of  the  Lord,  the  Lord  of  all  the  earth."  Here 
the  translators  suppress  the  word  Adon  where  it  first 
occurs ;  probably  assuming,  as  in  the  case  of  Melach 
above  referred  to,  that  it  was  not  in  apposition  with  the 
next  word,  Jehovah  ;  and  seeing  that  if  it  was  not,  the 
version  must  be,  the  Lord  of  the  Lord,  as  they  rendered 
Melach  Jehovah,  the  angel  of  the  Lord.  But  the  refer- 
ence of  the  word  Adon  being  in  every  such  connection 
identical  with  that  of  the  word  Jehovah,  and  the  two 
words,  when  conjoined,  being,  like  Melach  Jehovah,  in 
apposition,  the  version  should  Have  been,  the  Lord  (who 
is)  Jehovah,  the  Lord  of  all  the  earth. 

Again,  1  Kings  ii.  26 :  "The  ark  of  Adon  Jehovah," 
rendered,  the  ark  of  the  Lord  God  ;  where  the  two  words 
are  taken  to  be  in  apposition :  and  if  the  translator  felt 
a  difficulty,  he  would  seem  to  have  sought  to  avoid  it, 
as  in  other  like  instances,  by  an  unusual  version  of  the 
word  Jehovah.  Again,  2  Kings  xxii.  6 :  "Go  up,  for 
Adon,"  rendered  the  Lord,  "  shall  deliver  it."  And  to 
give  but  one  other  out  of  very  numerous  instances,  Ps. 
lxviii.  20 :  "  Unto  Jehovah  Adon,"  rendered  God  the 
Lord,  "belong  the  issues  from  death."  In  all  the  fore- 
going and  similar  instances  the  sense  requires  the  words 
"  who  is"  to  be  inserted  or  understood. 

McCanl  further  observes,  that  the  word  Jehovah  must 
sometimes  be  taken  as  the  genitive  case,  and  cites  Mai. 
ii.  7:  "The  priests'  lips  should  keep  knowledge,  and 
they  should  seek  the  law  at  his  mouth,  [referring  to  Je- 


IN   MOSF.S    AND   THE   PROPHETS.  43 

hovah  Zebaoth,  vs.  2  and  4,]  for  he  is  Melach  Jehovah  Ze- 
baoth,"  rendered,  "  the  messenger  of  the  Lord  of  hosts." 
But  he  gives  no  reason  why  Melach  Jehovah  in  this 
passage  should  not  be  rendered,  the  Messenger  Jehovah, 
as  well  as  in  any  other  passage.  Again,  he  observes, 
that  to  translate  the  formula,  Melach  Jehovah,  the  angel 
Jehovah,  is  plainly  against  the  Masoretic  punctuation. 
But  that  is  not  conclusive ;  for  the  points  formed  no 
part  of  the  original  text,  and  no  one  pretends  that  they 
were  inspired.  The  authors  of  that  system  of  punctua- 
tion were  governed,  in  their  application  of  the  points, 
by  their  theological,  as  well  as  by  their  grammatical 
theory ;  and  however  grammatically  correct  they  may 
have  been  in  their  appropriation  of  them  in  all  ordinary 
cases,  in  those  passages  of  which  they  held  an  erroneous 
theological  or  exegetical  theory,  they  of  course  ar- 
ranged the  points  conformably,  so  as  to  make  the  text 
express  their  preconceived  opinions.  In  relation  to  the 
present  instance,  for  example,  Kimchi,  as  McCaul  ob- 
serves, " considered  the  Person  designated  the  'angel  of 
the  Lord,'  as  nothing  more  than  one  of  the  man}-  angels 
to  whom  he  supposes  the  governance  of  this  lower  world 
is  committed."  Observations,  page  9.  Doubtless  the 
authors  of  the  points  held  the  same  opinion.  McCaul 
observes,  in  his  introduction,  that  Kimchi  and  other 
Babbies  of  his  day  "endeavored  to  get  rid  of  the  Chris- 
tian interpretations,  and  to  root  out  the  Christian  doc- 
trines which  had  descended  from  the  ancient  Jewish 
Church.' 


44  THE   MESSIAH 

CHAPTER    IV. 
Visible  Appearance  of  the  Messenger  Jehovah,  to  Hagar. 

The  first  recorded  instance  of  the  visible  appearance 
of  the  Angel  or  Messenger  Jehovah,  is  that  to  Hagar, 
Gen.  xvi.,  where  the  designation  Melach  Jehovah  is 
repeated  several  times.  The  Messenger  Jehovah  found 
Hagar  by  a  fountain  of  water.  He  called  her  by  name ; 
directed  her  to ^ return  to  her  mistress;  promised  to 
multiply  her  seed  exceedingly  ;  and  directed  her  to  call 
her  son  Ishmael,  "because  Jehovah  had  heard  her  afflic- 
tion." "And  she  called  the  name  of  Jehovah  that  spake 
unto  her,  Thou  El  seest  me :  for  she  said,  Have  I  also 
here  looked  after  him  that  seeth  me?"  The  visible  Person 
whom  she  saw,  and  who  spoke  to  her,  and  promised 
what  none  but  a  Divine  Person  could  promise,  is  called 
Melach  Jehovah,  and  also  Jehovah,  and  El.  He  was 
therefore  not  a  messenger  of  Jehovah,  or  a  distinct  per- 
son from  him,  but  Jehovah  himself,  as  recognized  and 
worshipped  under  the  several  designations  here  applied 
to  him.  Considered  as  the  administrator  of  Providence, 
the  things  said  and  done  by  him  were  in  keeping  with 
his  delegated  character,  and  with  the  acts  ascribed  to 
him  on  other  occasions.  There  is  a  further  notice  of 
his  dealings  with  Ishmael,  Gen.  xxii.  17,  after  his  expul- 
sion, with  Hagar,  from  Abraham's  house,  and  her  aban- 
donment of  him  in  despair  of  his  life.  "  And  Elohim 
heard  the  voice  of  the  lad:  and  Melach  Elohim  [in  our 
version,  the  angel  of  God]  called  to  nagar  out  of  heaven, 
and  said  unto  her,  What  ailcth  thee,  Hagar  ?  Fear  not ; 
for  Elohim  hath  heard  the  voice  of  the  lad,  where  he  is. 


IN   MOSES   AND   THE   PHOPHETS.  45 

Arise,  lift  up  the  lad,  and  hold  him  in  thy  hand ;  for  I 
will  make  of  him  a  great  nation.  And  Elohim  opened 
her  eyes,  and  she  saw  a  well  of  water ;  and'Elohim  was 
with  the  lad,"  &c.  Here  the  speaker  is  Melach  Elohim, 
which  designation  must  refer  to  the  same  official  Person 
as  that  of  Melach  Jehovah  in  the  former  instance,  for 
he  personally  promised  the  same  thing ;  saying  in  the 
one  case,  "/will  multiply  thy  seed  exceedingly,  that  it 
shall  not  be  numbered  for  multitude ;"  and  in  the  other, 
"  /  will  make  him  a  great  nation."  That  the  import  and 
reference  of  the  two  formulas  is  the  same,  is  also  evident 
beyond  a  question  from  other  passages,  where  both  are  in- 
differently applied  to  the  same  person;  as  Judges  vi.  20,  21: 
"And  Melach  {the)  Elohim  said  unto  him,  Take  the  flesh 
and  the  unleavened  cakes  and  lay  them  upon  this  rock, 
and  pour  out  the  broth.  And  he  did  so.  Then  Melach 
Jehovah  put  forth  the  end  of  the  staff  that  was  in  his 
hand,  and  touched  the  flesh,"  &c.  And  again,  Judges 
xiii.  3-9 :  "  And  Melach  Jehovah  appeared  unto  the 
woman,  and  (the)  Elohim  hearkened  to  the  voice  of  Ma- 
noah,  and  Melach  (the)  Elohim  came  again  unto  the 
woman."  The  narratives  in  which  these  passages 
occur  clearly  restrict  the  reference  to  one  and  the  same 
Person. 

In  the  original  of  these  quotations,  the  article  is  pre- 
fixed to  the  word  Elohim,  as  it  is  also  elsewhere,  (under- 
scored, or  included  above  and  hereafter  in  parenthesis,) 
which  is  by  some  supposed  to  require  the  rendering  to 
be,  as  in  our  common  version,  the  angel  or  messenger  of 
Elohim.  But  this  conclusion  cannot  be  sustained :  1st, 
because  it  indicates  something  different  in  respect  to  the 
Person  referred  to  from  the  formula  Melach  Jehovah ;  and 
2d,  because  in  other  instances  of  similar  formulas  the  arti- 
cle does  not  occur,  as  in  Gen.  xxi.  17:  "And  Melach 


46  THE    MESSIAH 

Elohim  called  to  Hagar."  The  occurrence  of  the  arti- 
cle does  not  determine  the  construction.  It  is  often 
redundant,  and  is  prefixed  to  the  word  Elohim  where  it 
cannot  be  a  sign  of  the  genitive,  because  not  immedi- 
ately preceded  by  a  noun  to  govern  it.  Thus  in  the 
passage  above  quoted  from  Judges  xiii.  we  read,  "and 
the  Elohim  hearkened,"  &c,  the  article  being  prefixed  in 
the  original.  So  Gen.  vi.  11:  "The  earth  also  was  cor- 
rupt before  the  Elohim."  Gen.  xvii.  18:  "And  Abra- 
ham said  unto  the  Elohim."  Gen.  xxii.  3,  9,  xxvii.  28, 
and  many  other  places. 


CHAPTER  V. 

No  visible  Divine  Appearances  ever  made  except  of  the  Messiah,  the 
Mediator  in  all  the  Relations  of  God  to  the  World. 

Having  shown  that  the  denominative  Melach,  when 
coupled  with  the  name  Jehovah,  or  the  name  Elohim. 
or  used  interchangeably  with  either  of  those  or  with 
other  Divine  names,  is  a  designat  on  of  the  Messiah ; 
that  when  that  denominative  is  employed  interchange- 
ably with  the  names  Jehovah,  Elohim,  or  Adonai,  those 
names  designate  the  same  official  Person ;  and  that  the 
formulas  Melach  Jehovah  and  Melach  Elohim  have  one 
and  the  same  personal  import  and  reference,  the  way  is 
prepared  for  an  examination  of  other  Scriptures  in 
which  occur  the  same  designations  of  the  delegated  One 
of  whom  Moses  and  the  prophets  wrote,  the  Word  who 
was  in  the  beginning,  and  by  whom  all  things  were 
created  and  are  upheld. 


IN    MOSES    AND   THE    PROPHETS.  47 

This  wonderful  Person  often,  in  the  course  of  the 
ancient  dispensations,  manifested  himself  visibly  in  the 
likeness  of  that  form  which  in  due  time  he  permanently 
assumed,  by  taking  human  nature  into  union  with  his 
person.  In  his  delegated  official  character,  being  the 
agent  in  all  external  and  visible  works  and  manifesta- 
tions, and  the  medium  of  all  relations  between  creatures 
and  the  Self-existent,  he  was  from  the  beginning  the 
image  and  acting  representative  of  the  invisible  Deity ; 
delegated  of  the  Father  to  accomplish  the  works  which, 
pursuant  to  the  counsels  of  eternity,  belong  to  his  com- 
prehensive administration.  To  him,  in  this  character 
and  in  distinction  from  the  Father,  belonged  all  visible 
personal  manifestations.  And  hence,  to  enforce  the 
necessary  discrimination,  and  prevent  erroneous  im- 
pressions, the  Evangelist  John,  chap,  i.,  on  announcing 
the  visible  "Word,  the  Word  incarnate,  as  the  visible 
expression  of  the  glory  of  the  Father,  says :  "No  man 
hath  seen  God  (the  Father)  at  any  time ;  it  is  [see  Camp- 
bell's version]  the  only-begotten  Son,  that  is  in  the 
bosom  of  the  Father,  who  hath  made  him  known." 
Aud  again,  chap.  vi.  45:  "Every  man  that  hath  heard 
and  learned  of  the  Father  cometh  unto  me;  not  that 
any  man  hath  seen  the  Father;"  (or,  as  rendered  by 
Campbell,)  "not  that  any  man,  except  him  who  is  from 
God,  hath  seen  the  Father.  He,  indeed,  hath  seen  the 
Father."  Again  xiv.  9:  "He  that  hath  seen  me,  hath 
seen  the  Father ;"  that  is,  hath  seen  the  image,  the 
only  visible  representative  of  the  Father.  And  in  his 
first  epistle,  chap,  iv:  "No  man  hath  seen  God  at  any 
time.  If  we  love  one  another,  God  dwelleth  in  us. 
And  we  have  seen  and  do  testify  that  the  Father  sent 
the  Son  to  be  the  Saviour  of  the  world." 

These   statements  preclude  the  supposition   of  any 


48  THE   MESSIAH 

visible  personal  appearance  during  the  preceding  dispen- 
sations, excepting  of  the  delegated  official  Person  to 
whom  the  revelation  of  the  Invisible  was  assigned  ;  and 
who  when  referred  to  as  Creator  is  called  Elohim  and 
Jehovah,  and  when  referred  to  as  the  administrator  of 
Providence,  or  in  his  relations  to  individuals  and  to  the 
house  of  Israel,  is  called  indiscriminately  by  all  the 
Divine  names  and  titles,  whether  significant  especially 
of  his  Divine  nature,  or  of  his  official  person,  agency  or 
character. 

In  these  multiform  relations  he  was  the  great  theme, 
as  he  was  the  lawgiver,  administrator  and  revealer  of 
the  ancient  dispensations ;  asserting  the  same  preroga- 
tives and  performing  the  same  acts  when  referred  to  by 
official  titles,  as  when  specially  denominated  Jehovah  or 
Elohim.  In  both  cases,  from  the  nature  and  historical 
connection  of  the  acts  ascribed  to  him,  it  is  evident  that 
the  actor  was  personally  one  and  the  same. 

The  word  Elohim  is  a  general  term,  employed,  it  may 
be  presumed,  originally,  with  reference  only  to  the 
Supreme  Being,  but  subsequently  appropriated  to  ima- 
ginary deities.  In  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  it  occurs  in 
several  forms,  as  El,  Elohe,  Eloah,  Elohim,  referring 
sometimes  to  the  Divine  Being  absolutely,  sometimes 
definitely  to  the  Father,  sometimes  to  the  Holy  Spirit, 
but  commonly  to  the  Son;  as  is  the  case  with  corre- 
sponding and  equivalent  designations  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment. The  radical  idea  of  this  word,  in  its  simplest 
form,  is,  according  to  some  Hebrew  lexicographers, 
that  of  interposer,  intervener,  mediator;  derived  from 
the  intervention  of  air  and  light  between  all  bodies  in 
space,  and  indicating  the  universal  agency  of  the  Divine 
Person,  primarily  designated  as  interposer  or  mediator. 
And  undoubtedly   the   scope   of    numerous  passages 


IN    MOSES   AND    THE    PKOPHETS.  49 

implies  this  special  reference,  though  not  always  appa- 
rent, without  reference  to  other  scriptures ;  as  in  Psalm 
xlv.  6  :  "  Thy  throne,  Elohim,  is  for  ever  and  ever ;"  and 
cii.  24 :  "I  said,  El,  [with  the  suffix  for  my,  and  rendered 
O  my  God,]  take  me  not  away  in  the  midst  of  my 
days:  thy  years  are  throughout  all  generations.  Of 
old  hast  thou  laid  the  foundations  of  the  earth,  and  the 
heavens  are  the  work  of  thy  hands.  They  shall  perish," 
&c.  These  passages  are  quoted,  Heb.  L,  as  having  referred 
expressly  to  Christ. 

Hengstenberg,  in  his  Christology,  p.  160,  vol.  I.,  in- 
troduces his  investigation  respecting  the  character  of 
the  Angel  or  Messenger,  in  which  he  designs  to  show 
that  the  alleged  essential  oneness  of  the  Messiah  with 
the  Jehovah  does  not  contradict  the  Old  Testament 
doctrine  of  the  unity,  by  observing,  "that  the  New 
Testament  makes  us  acquainted  with  God,  the  Father  of 
Jesus  Christ,  as  a  Spirit,  who,  being  every  where  equally 
present,  never  manifests  himself  in  a  sensible  form. 
But  besides  this  concealed  God,  it  makes  known  to  us 
also  a  revealed  God,  associated  with  him  by  the  oneness 
of  their  nature  ;  the  Son  or  Logos,  who  has  constantly 
filled  up  the  infinite  distance  between  the  Creator  and 
the  creation,  and  been  the  Mediator  in  all  the  relations 
of  God  to  the  world  and  the  human  race ;  who,  even 
before  he  became  man  in  the  person  of  Christ,  was  in 
all  ages  the  light  of  the  world,  and  to  whom  especially 
the  whole  direction  of  the  visible  Theocracy  belonged. 
Although  this  doctrine  was  first  unfolded  with  perfect 
clearness  in  the  New  Testament,  yet  we  find  an  essen- 
tial distinction  between  the  unrevealed  and  the  revealed 
God,  even  in  the  writings  of  the  Old  Testament." 

After  examining  tha  principal  passages  which  speak 
of  the  Messenger  or  Angel  Jehovah,  and  showing  "that 
3 


50  THE    MESSIAH 

they  really  contain  the  doctrine  of  a  distinction  between 
the  concealed  and  the  revealed  God,"  pp.  165-182,  he 
thus  concludes,  pp.  183-187:  "  We  believe  then  that  we 
have  satisfactorily  shown  that  by  the  Angel  of  Jehovah 
is  to  be  understood  the  Kevealer  of  God,  who  being  a 
partaker  of  his  Godhead,  and  united  with  him  in  the 
same  nature,  was  the  mediator  in  all  his  relations,  first 
with  the  patriarchs,  and  afterwards  with  the  visible 
Theocracy.  This  Kevealer  of  Jehovah  then  was  ex- 
pected as  a  great  Eestorer  in  future  times.  This  is 
evident  from  those  places  in  the  Old  Testament  which 
ascribe  to  the  Messiah  Divine  names,  attributes,  and 
works;  for  if  the  Messiah  were  God,  he  could  stand, 
according  to  the  whole  system  of  the  religion  of  the 
Old  Testament,  in  no  other  relation  to  the  Most  High 
God  than  that  which  the  Angel  of  Jehovah  was  thought 
to  sustain.  Further,  the  passage  in  Malachi  iii.  1  af- 
fords the  most  distinct  testimony  in  favor  of  the  iden- 
tity of  both.  There  the  Messiah  bears  the  name  of  the 
Angel  of  the  Covenant,  either,  according  to  the  general 
import  of  the  term  covenant,  the  angel  who  is  the 
mediator  in  every  engagement  between  God  and  men, 
or,  according  to  its  special  meaning,  the  angel  who 
established  the  covenant  of  Sinai  with  the  people  of 
Israel.  From  this  appellation,  therefore,  it  appears  that 
the  Messiah  is  the  same  as  the  Angel  Jehovah,  whose 
agency  in  giving  the  law  at  Sinai  is  not  indeed  expressly 
mentioned  in  the  Mosaic  account,  but  it  is  rendered 
sufficiently  certain  by  analogy,  and  by  the  positive  testi- 
mony of  the  prophet.  As  the  Angel  Jehovah,  in  those 
passages  where  he  is  expressly  named,  boars  interchange- 
ablv  the  names  Jehovah  and  Elohim,  so  must  we  often 
suppose  him  to  be  intended,  where  Jehovah  only  is 
spoken  of  throughout.     Comp.  Gen.  xxxii.  24,  &c,  with 


IN    MOSES   AND   THE    PROPHETS.  51 

Hosea  xii.  4-6,  and  Exod.  xx.  3.  where  the  angel  is  not 
mentioned,  and  Jehovah  says,  '  I  am  the  Lord  thy  God, 
who  brought  thee  up  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt.'  Al- 
lowing it  to  have  been  the  office  of  the  Angel  Jehovah 
in  general  to  act  as  mediator  in  the  transactions  between 
the  invisible  God  and  men,  bis  mediation  must  be 
assumed,  in  many  instances,  where  it  is  not  expre>>lv 
mentioned."  "This  identity  of  the  Angel  of  Jehovah 
and  the  Messiah  was  acknowledged  also  by  the  later 
Jews."  "But  what  renders  this  identity  indubitably 
certain  is  the  evidence  of  the  New  Testament,  in  which 
Christ  appears  as  the  Mediator  of  the  Old  Covenant, 
and  every  thing  is  attributed  to  him  which  in  the  Old 
Testament  is  spoken  of  Jehovah  and  his  Eevealer. 
According  to  John  xii.  41.  Isaiah  saw  the  glory  of  Christ 
and  spake  of  him;  on  the  other  hand,  in  the  passage 
referred  to,  chap,  vi.,  Isaiah  saw  the  glory  of  Jehovah. 
1  Cor.  x.  9,  it  is  said,  '  Neither  let  us  tempt  Christ,  as 
some  of  them  also  tempted  and  were  destroyed  of  ser- 
pents.' According  to  this  passage,  therefore,  Christ 
was  the  leader  of  the  Israelites  through  the  wilderm 
and  was  tempted  by  them.  On  the  other  hand,  il: 
Pentateuch  relates  that  they  were  led  by  the  Angel  Jeho- 
vah ;  and  in  Numb.  xxi.  5-7,  that  they  tempted  Jeho- 
vah. 1  Pet.  i.  10  declares  that  the  Spirit  of  Christ 
spake  by  the  prophets:  but  the  prophets  themselves 
always  refer  to  Jehovah  as  the  source  of  their  predic- 
tions. According  to  Heb.  xi.  2"6,  Moses  preferred 
reproach  for  the  sake  of  Christ,  to  the  treasures  of 
Egypt :  the  narrative  in  Exodus  informs  us  that  he 
sacri  (iced  every  thing  to  the  service  of  Jehovah.  Accord- 
ing to  Heb.  xii.  26,  at  the  giving  of  the  law,  the  voice 
of  Christ  shook  the  earth  :  in  Exodus  this  was  done  by 
Jeh'Ovab."     "We  must  in  a  c—4 'in  respect  distinguish 


52  THE    MESSIAH 

between  the  Angel  Jehovah,  and  the  Son  of  God,  and 
not,  with  the  Fathers  and  most  of  the  old  theologians, 
venture  to  say  that  they  are  perfectly  identical."  "  That 
the  Mediator  of  the  New  Testament  was  also,  as  the 
Angel  Jehovah,  the  Mediator  in  all  the  relations  of 
God  to  the  people  of  the  Old  Testament,  was,  with  the 
exception  of  the  above  named  Fathers,  the  unanimous 
opinion  of  the  ancient  Church." 

After  quoting  a  list  of  authorities,  he  concludes : 
"Let  us  now  briefly  sum  up  the  result  of  the  preceding 
investigation.  In  the  prophetic  Scriptures,  a  divine  as 
well  as  human  nature  is  attributed  to  the  Messiah;  and 
yet  every  polytheistic  idea  is  excluded  by  the  assump- 
tion of  his  essential  unity  with  the  Most  High  God.  It 
was  expected  that  the  Angel  or  Kevealer  of  Jehovah, 
who  had  often  before  made  himself  occasionally  visible, 
and  acted  as  the  Mediator  between  God  and  the  people, 
in  all  their  transactions,  would  assume  human  nature  in 
the  person  of  the  Messiah,  and  redeem  and  bless  both 
Jews  and  Gentiles. 

"  Here  the  question  }^et  arises :  If  the  distinction 
between  the  revealed  and  the  nnrevealed  God  was 
alreadjr  made  known  imder  the  Old  Testament,  wherein 
is  the  New  Testament  in  this  respect  superior  to  the 
Old  ?  The  preference  consists  in  this :  Under  the  Old 
Testament  the  distinction  was  necessarily  kept  more 
out  of  view,  and  hence  might  easily  appear  to  be  founded 
not  so  much  on  a  relation  in  the  Godhead  itself,  as  on  a 
relation  to  those  to  whom  the  revelation  was  made.  In 
the  Old  Testament,  the  Mediator  commonly  spoke  and 
acted  in  the  name  of  God,  whom  he  revealed.  Nor 
could  it  be  otherwise  before  the  Logos  had  become  flesh. 
Hence  the  Eevealer  and  He  who  was  revealed  in  a 
manner  lost  themselves  in  each  other.     But  under  the 


IN    MOSES   AND   THE    PROPHETS.  53 

New  Testament,  on  the  contrary,  they  appeared  distin- 
guished from  each  other,  as  Father  and  Son.  Religion 
thus  gained  a  two-fold  advantage.  It  became  more 
spiritual,  and  at  the  same  time  more  an  object  of  sense: 
more  spiritual,  by  the  exclusion  of  those  limited  concep- 
tions of  the  spirituality,  the  omniscience,  and  the  omni- 
presence of  God  which  arose  from  confounding  the 
Revealer  with  him  who  was  revealed;  more  an  object  of 
sense,  because  the  Son  of  God,  in  his  life,  sufferings,  and 
death,  brought  the  Divine  Being  nearer  to  man  than 
was  possible  in  the  transient  appearances  of  the  Angel 
under  the  Old  Testament.  But  such  a  condescension  of 
the  Deity  to  fallen  man  is  indispensable  to  his  becom- 
ing like  God." 

On  these  passages  it  may  be  observed,  that  in  what 
the  author  says  of  the  Mediator  having  "constantly 
filled  up  the  infinite  distance  between  the  Creator  and 
the  creation,"  he  proceeds  on  the  common  theory  that 
the  invisible,  the  concealed  God,  in  distinction  from  the 
personal  Word,  is  the  Creator.  This  is  inconsistent  with 
the  preceding  statement,  that  he  never  manifests  him- 
self in  a  sensible  form :  for  He  who  created,  upholds 
and  governs,  appeared  personally  and  visibly  to  Abra- 
ham, Jacob,  Moses  and  others,  as  Jehovah,  gave  the  law 
at  Sinai,  and  was  the  leader  of  Israel.  With  respect  to 
'the  distinction  which  he  refers  to  as  existing  in  a  certain 
respect  between  the  Angel  of  Jehovah  and  the  Son  of 
God,  it  is  presumed  that  he  considered  the  latter  title 
as  applicable  to  the  second  Person  of  the  Trinity,  eter- 
nally, and  as  designating  that  Person  anterior  to  his 
appointment  as  Mediator,  and  without  reference  to  his 
incarnation  or  his  official  work  in  any  respect.  The 
doctrine  which  he  ascribes  to  the  Fathers  is  presumed 
to  be,  that  the  official  Person  who  is  called  the  Angel 


54  THE   MESSIAH 

Jehovah,  and  who  took  on  him  the  seed  of  Abraham, 
was  identically  the  same  Person  before  and  after  the 
accession  and  union  of  man's  nature  to  the  Divine ; 
and  that  he  was  designated  as  the  same  person  by  the 
phrase,  "the  Son  of  God."  In  the  passages  above 
quoted,  where  the  preposition  of  is  not  inserted  between 
the  words  Angel  and  Jehovah,  the  author  gives  the 
Hebrew  words.  When  he  translates  them,  he  inserts 
the  preposition. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Appearances  of  the  Messenger  Jehovah  to  Abraham  and  to  Jacob. 

In  the  narrative  of  Abraham's  offering  of  Isaac,  Gen. 
xxii.,  we  read  that  "Melach  Jehovah  called  unto  him 
out  of  heaven,  and  said,  Lay  not  thine  hand  upon  the 
lad,  for  /  know  that  thou  fearest  Elohim,  seeing  thou 
hast  not  withheld  thy  son,  thine  only  son,  from  one.  And 
Melach  Jehovah  called  unto  Abraham  out  of  heaven  the 
second  tyne,  and  said,  By  myself  have  I  sworn,  saith 
Jehovah,  for  because  thou  hast  done  this  thing,  and  hast 
not  withheld  thy  son,  thine  only  son,  That  in  blessing  I 
will  bless  thee,  because  thou  hast  obeyed  my  voice." 

At  the  commencement  of  this  narrative  it  is  said  that 
(the)  Elohim  did  tempt  Abraham,  i.e.,  try  him  in  respect 
to  his  faith  and  obedience.  "And  he  said,  Take  now 
thy  son,  thine  only  son  Isaac,  whom  thou  lovest,  and 
get  thee  into  the  land  of  Moriah,  and  offer  him  there 
for  a  burnt  offering  upon  one  of  the  mountains  which  I 
will  tell  thee  of.     And  Abraham  went  unto  the  place 


IN    MOSES    AND    THE    PROPHETS.  55 

of  which  {the)  Elohim  had  told  him."  There  he  built 
an  altar,  and  having  bound  Isaac  he  laid  him  on  the 
altar,  and  took  the  knife  to  slay  him ;  when  Melach 
Jehovah  called  to  him,  forbade  the  intended  sacrifice, 
and  said,  I  know  that  thou  fearest  Elohim,  seeing  thou 
hast  not  withheld  thy  son  from  me.  From  this  it  is  evi- 
dent that  the  offering  was  intended  to  be  made,  and  was 
virtually  made,  to  Melach  Jehovah.  For  "By  faith 
Abraham  when  he  was  tried  offered  up  Isaac ;  account- 
ing that  Grod  was  able  to  raise  him  up  from  the  dead, 
from  whence  also  he  received  him  in  a  figure."  Heb.  xi. 
His  faith,  in  this  extraordinary  act  of  worship,  had 
immediate  respect  to  the  delegated  Messenger  Jeho- 
vah, then  and  ever  the  resurrection  and  the  life.  He 
was  the  Divine  speaker  on  the  occasion,  his  voice  it  was 
that  Abraham  obeyed,  and  to  him  he  rendered  the  high- 
est acts  of  homage  and  obedience.  It  was  in  his  official 
name,  as  well  as  in  that-  of  Elohim,  that  he  spoke  to 
Abraham,  and  to  him  in  all  respects  the  scene  evidently 
refers.  After  offering  the  animal  provided  in  place  of 
Isaac,  he  discerned  an  import  and  a  reference  in  the 
transaction,  which  were  to  be  fulfilled  on  the  same 
mount  at  a  future  day;  and  he  therefore  named  the 
place  Jehovah-Jireh,  importing  that  what  was  signified 
by  his  offering  would  be  realized  and  witnessed  there,  and 
giving  rise  to  a  saying  expressive  of  that  result,  and 
pointing  no  doubt,  so  explicitly  as  not  to  be  misunder- 
stood, to  the  sacrifice  of  Christ:  namely,  "In  the  mount 
of  Jehovah  it  shall  be  seen ;"  or,  according  to  Warbur- 
ton,  Book  vi.  sec.  5,  "In  the  mount  Jehovah  shall  be 
seen." 

In  the  narrative  of  Jacob's  departure  from  Laban, 
Gen.  xxi.,  he  says:  "Melach  (the)  Elohim  spake  unto 
me  in  a  dream,  and  he  said,  I  have  seen  all  that  Laban 


56  THE    MESSIAH 

doeth  unto  thee.  I  am  the  El  of  Beth-El,  where  thou 
anointedst  the  pillar,  and  where  thou  vowedst  a  vow 
unto  me."  Here  the  Messenger  Jehovah  declares  him- 
self to  be  the  God  of  Beth-El,  and  that  the  vow  made  there 
was  made  to  him.  In  chap,  xxviii.,  where  that  transac- 
tion is  related,  he  is  announced,  not  by  this  special  name 
of  office,  but  by  other  designations,  showing  that  in  his 
official  character  he  was  familiarly  recognized  by  the 
various  Divine  names,  whether  employed  separately  or 
conjointly.  And  Jacob  awaked  and  said,  "  Surely  Je- 
hovah is  in  this  place;  this  is  the  house  of  Elohim: 
and  Jacob  vowed  a  vow,  saying,  If  Elohim  will  be  with 
me,  &c,  then  shall  Jehovah  be  my  Elohe." 

There  is  in  the  history  of  Jacob  another  striking 
illustration  of  this  usage.  On  his  way  from  Padan- 
aram,  after  his  interview  with  Esau,  he  came  to  Shalem 
in  the  land  of  Canaan  and  pitched  his  tent  there,  and 
built  an  altar  which  he  called  El-Elohe-Israel.  Subse- 
quently Elohim  said  unto  Jacob,  "Arise,  go  up  to 
Beth-El,  and  dwell  there ;  and  make  there  an  altar  unto 
El  that  appeared  unto  thee  when  thou  fieddest  from  the 
face  of  Esau  thy  brother.  Then  Jacob  said  unto  his 
household,  Let  us  arise  and  go  up  to  Beth-El,  and  I  will 
make  there  an  altar  unto  El  who  answered  me  in  the 
day  of  my  distress,  and  was  with  me  in  the  way  which 
I  went.  So  Jacob  came  to  Beth-El,  and  he  built  there 
an  altar,  and  called  the  place  El-Beth-El,  because  there 
(the)  Elohim  appeared  unto  him,  when  he  fled  from  the 
face  of  his  brother.  And  Elohim  appeared  unto  Jacob 
again;  and  Elohim  said  unto  him,  Thy  name  is  Jacob: 
thy  name  shall  not  be  called  any  more  Jacob,  but  Isra-El 
shall  be  thy  name.  And  Elohim  said  unto  .him,  I  am 
El-Shadai,  (God  Almighty.)  And  Elohim  went  up  from 
him  in  the  plae«   whore  he  talked  with  him."     Chap. 


IN   M0&ES   AND  THE   PROPHETS.  57 

xxxv.  But  He  who  visibly  appeared  to,  and  wrestled 
with  him  on  the  occasion  referred  to,  Gen.  xxxii.,  and 
whom  he  saw  face  to  face,  was  Elohim  in  the  likeness 
of  man,  and  is  called  by  Hosea  Melach,  the  Messenger, 
even  Jehovah  Elohe  of  Zebaoth. 

The  above-mentioned  appearance  of  Elohim  to  Jacob 
was  doubtless  a  visible  appearance,  for  after  talking  with 
Jacob,  Elohim  went  up  from  him  and  from  the  place  of 
meeting.  And  it  is  clear  that  the  same  Person  who 
before  was  called  a  man  is  here  called  Elohim.  Proba- 
bly in  other  instances,  where  Jehovah  or  Elohim  is  said 
to  appear,  as  to  Isaac,  Gen.  xxvi.  2,  2-A,  and  to  Abra- 
ham and  others  on  various  occasions,  were  visible  per- 
sonal appearances. 

Another  instance  in  the  history  of  Jacob,  in  which 
the  official  designation  Melach  occurs  interchangeably 
with  Elohim,  is  Gen.  xlviii.  15:  "And  he  blessed  Jo- 
seph and  said,  (The)  Elohim,  before  whom  my  fathers 
Abraham  and  Isaac  did  walk,  (the)  Elohim  which  fed 
me  all  my  life  long  unto  this  day,  the  Melach  which 
redeemed  me  from  all  evil,  bless  the  lads."  The  identity 
of  Person  here  is  made  emphatic  by  the  article  prefixed 
to  each  designation. 


3* 


58  THE   MESSIAH 


CHAPTER    VII. 

References  to  various  Appearances  of  Jehovah  and  Elohiru  to  the  Pa- 
triarchs. 

It  is  evident  from  the  preceding  illustrations  that 
during  the  patriarchal  dispensation,  the  personal  Word, 
Jehovah  in  the  delegated  character  of  Messiah,  appeared 
visibly  in  the  form  of  man,  and  was  recognized  under 
official  and  other  Divine  designations,  appropriated  sep- 
arate^ and  interchangeably  to  the  one  manifested  and 
acting  interposer  and  agent  in  the  works  of  creation, 
providence  and  redemption.  There  are  in  the  records 
of  that  dispensation  numerous  collateral  evidences  and 
implications  to  the  same  effect,  which  may  be  comprised 
under  what  relates  to  personal  designations  and  appear- 
ances, the  import  and  reference  of  sacrificial  offerings, 
the  places,  manner,  and  immediate  object  of  worship, 
prayer,  faith  and  trust,  and  the  familiarity  of  intercourse 
on  the  part  of  the  Divine  administrator  of  Providence 
and  guardian  of  his  people  during  that  economy. 

As  a  farther  evidence  that  the  instances  in  which  it 
is  said  that  Elohim  or  Jehovah  appeared  to  Abraham  or 
others  were  local,  personal,  visible  appearances,  it  may 
be  observed  that  on  the  occasion  mentioned,  Gen.  xvii., 
it  is  said  that  Jehovah  appeared  to  him:  "And  he  left 
off  talking  with  him,  and  Elohim  went  up  from  Abra- 
ham;" as  in  a  passage  before  referred  to,  chap,  xxxv, 
that  "Elohim  appeared  unto  Jacob;  and  Elohim  went 
up  from  him  in  the  place  where  he  talked  with  him." 
The  word  translated  went  up,  signifies  to  ascend,  to  go 
up,  &c,  and  is  of  frequent  occurrence.    Thus,  Ps.  lxviii. 


IN   MOSES   AND   THE    PROPHETS.  59 

18:  "  Thou  hast  ascended  up  on  high,  thou  hast  led  cap- 
tivity," &c. ;  quoted  and  applied  to  Christ,  Eph.  iv. 
Judges  xiii.  20:  "When  the  flame  went  up  towards 
heaven  from  off  the  altar,  Melach  Jehovah  ascended  in 
the  flame  of  the  altar."  Ezekiel  xi.  23 :  "  And  the  glory 
of  Jehovah  went  up  from  the  midst  of  the  city,  and 
stood  upon  the  mountain."  Gren.  xix.  28:  "The  smoke 
of  the  country  went  up,  as  the  smoke  of  a  furnace." 

The  like  evidence  as  to  the  local,  personal  presence  of 
Jehovah  on  such  occasions,  results  from  the  use  of 
the  word  translated  came  down,  descended,  where  his 
presence  or  the  local  exercise  of  his  prerogatives  is 
mentioned.  Thus,  with  reference  to  Babel  and  the  dis- 
persion: "Jehovah  came  down  to  see  the  city  and  the 
tower.  .  .  .  So  Jehovah  scattered  them  abroad, "  &c.  Gen. 
xi.  5.  So  on  the  occasion  of  his  first  visible  appearance 
to  Moses:  "Melach  Jehovah  appeared  unto  him  in  a 
flame  of  fire  out  of  the  midst  of  a  bush.  Moses  hid  his 
face,  for  he  was  afraid  to  look  upon  Elohim.  And 
Jehovah  said,  I  am  come  down  to  deliver  them,"  &c. 
Exod.  hi.  Again:  "Jehovah  came  down  upon  mount 
Sinai,  on  the  top  of  the  mount;  and  Jehovah  called 
Moses  up  to  the  top  of  the  mount,  and  Moses  went  up." 
Exod.  xix.  20.  And  when  Moses  took  the  two  tables  of 
stone  up  to  the  top  of  Sinai,  "Jehovah  descended  in  the 
cloud  and  stood  with  him  there,  and  proclaimed  the 
name  of  Jehovah."  Exod.  xxxv.  At  the  consecration 
of  the  seventy  elders,  "Jehovah  came  down  in  a  cloud, 
and  spake  unto  Moses."  Numbers  xi.  25.  At  the 
sedition  of  Miriam  and  Aaron,  "Jehovah  came  doivnm 
the  pillar  of  the  cloud,  and  stood  in  the  door  of  the 
tabernacle,  and  said,  Hear  now  my  words."  Ibid.  xii.  5. 
These  and  various  other  passages  clearly  import  a  per- 
sonal descent  in  a  visible  form ;    and  no  less  clearly 


60  THE    MESSIAH 

indicate,  by  the  titles,  occasions  and  acts  narrated,  that 
it  was  the  delegated  One,  the  Word,  to  whom  all  such 
manifestations  refer,  conformably  to  the  allusion  to  the 
ascension  of  Christ,  Ephes.  iv. :  "  He  that  descended  is  the 
same  also  that  ascended  up  far  above  all  heavens." 

The  word  translated  appeared,  in  all  the  instances  of 
local  personal  manifestation,  literally  means  appeared 
visibly,  was  seen  ;  as  Gen.  i.  9 :  "  Let  the  dry  land  appear ;" 
Gen.  viii.  5 :  "  The  tops  of  the  mountains  were  seen;'''1  and 
vii.  1 :  "  Thee  have  I  seen  righteous  ;"  ix.  14 :  "  The  bow 
shall  be  seen;"  xxxi.  42  :  "Elohim  hath  seen  mine  afflic- 
tion;" xlviii.  3:  "El-Shadai  appeared  unto  me  at  Luz;" 
literally,  was  seen  by  me.  Judges  xiii.  22 :  "  We  have  seen 
Elohim."  Exod.  xxiv.  10 :  "And  they  saw  the  Elohe 
of  Israel." 

This  will  be  further  illustrated  by  reference  to  par- 
ticular instances  mentioned  in  the  book  of  Genesis. 
"And  Jehovah  appeared  unto  Abram,  and  said,  Unto 
thy  seed  will  I  give  this  land :  and  there  builded  he  an 
altar  unto  Jehovah  who  appeared  unto  him."  Chnp. 
lxii.  7.  That  this  was  a  visible  manifestation,  is  indi- 
cated not  only  by  the  obvious  import  of  the  terms 
employed,  but  by  Abram's  building  an  altar,  and  con- 
secrating the  locality  as  a  place  of  worship,  and  of 
typical  offerings  to  Jehovah. 

Again,  chap.  xvii.  1:  "Jehovah  appeared  to  Abram, 
and  said  unto  him,  I  am  El-Shadai ;  walk  before  me, 
and  be  thou  perfect.  And  Abram  fell  on  his  face ;  and 
Elohim  talked  with  him,  saying,"  &c.  After  changing 
his  name  to  Abraham,  and  that  of  his  wife  to  Sarah, 
announcing  a  covenant  with  him,  hearing  his  pra}rer  for 
Ishmael,  and  giving  sundry  promises  and  directions, 
"Elohim  left  off  talking  with  him,  an&'ivent  up  from 
Abraham."     The  language,  and  all  the  circumstances 


IN   MOSES   AND   THE    PEOPHETS.  61 

and  details  of  this  interview,  imply  a  local,  personal, 
visible  presence  of  Jehovah. 

The  next  instance,  chap,  xviii.,  is  that  in  which  "Jeho- 
vah appeared  to  Abraham  in  the  plains  of  Mamie,"  in 
the  likeness  of  man ;  was  entertained  hj  him,  walked 
and  conversed  with,  and  heard  his  requests  in  behalf  of 
the  righteous  in  Sodom :  which  undoubtedly  was  a 
local,  visible,  personal  appearance  of  Jehovah  the  Word. 

In  the  26th  chapter  we  read  that  Isaac  went  to  Gerar, 
"And  Jehovah  appeared  unto  him,  and  said,  Go  not 
down  into  Egypt,"  &c.  Afterwards  he  removed  to 
Beersheba,  "  And  Jehovah  appeared  unto  him,  and  said, 
I  am  the  Elohe  of  Abraham  thy  father :  fear  not,  for  I 
am  with  thee,"  &c.  "  And  he  builded  an  altar  there, 
and  called  upon  the  name  of  Jehovah,  and  pitched  his 
tent  there."  At  these  interviews  the  same  promises 
substantially  respecting  his  descendants  were  made  to 
him,  that  had  been  made  to  Abraham,  with  the  same 
introductory  formula  concerning  the  appearance  of  the 
Divine  speaker;  and  considering  that  Isaac  built  an 
altar  and  fixed  his  residence  at  Beersheba,  worshipped, 
doubtless  presenting  typical  offerings  on  the  altar,  and 
consecrating  that  as  the  place  of  his  future  worship  in 
the  confidence  of  its  being  thereafter  a  place  of  Divine 
manifestation,  there  seems  to  be  very  ample  ground  to 
conclude  that  these  were  local,  personal,  and  visible 
appearances,  similar  in  their  form,  as  they  were  in  their 
object,  to  those  vouchsafed  to  Abraham. 

The  first  instance  to  be  noticed  in  the  history  of 
Jacob,  is  referred  to  in  chap,  xlviii.  3:  "And  Jacob 
said  unto  Joseph,  El-Shadai  appeared  unto  me  at  Luz, 
and  blessed  me,"  &c.  The  occasion  was  that  of  his 
vision  of  a  ladder  :  "  And  Jehovah  stood  above  it  and 
said,    I  am   Jehovah   Elohe  of  Abraham ;"  see   chap. 


62  THE   MESSIAH 

xxviii.  Subsequently,  chap,  xxxv.,  he  was  directed  to 
return  and  reside  at  that  place.  "Elohim  said  unto 
Jacob,  Arise,  go  up  to  Bethel,  and  make  there-an  altar 
unto  El,  that  appeared  unto  thee  when  thou  fleddest 
from  the  face  of  Esau.  And  he  built  there  an  altar,, 
and  called  the  place  El-Beth-El ;  because  there  (the) 
Elohim  appeared  unto  him,  when  he  fled,"  &c.  The 
repetition  of  the  word  appeared  in  these  passages,  its 
implied  significance  as  a  reason  for  building  an  altar, 
the  occasion  referred  to,  and  the  object  of  speaking  of 
it  to  Joseph,  indicate  a  memorable  personal,  visible 
appearance  at  the  place  specified. 

"And  Elohim  appeared  unto  Jacob  again,  and  said 
unto  him,  lam  El-Shadai ;  and  Elohim  ivent  upj  from  him 
in  the  place  where  he  talked  with  him,"  chap.  35  : 
which  can  hardly  be  taken  for  any  other  than  a  local 
and  visible  presence. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Of   the  Doctrines,  Worship,  and  Faith  of  those  earliest  mentioned  in 
Scripture — Reference  to  the  History  of  Moses,  Noah,  Joshua. 

WAIVING  for  the  present  a  notice  of  many  analogous 
instances  in  other  parts  of  Scripture,  it  mxy  be  observed 
that  there  are,  in  the  history  of  the  patriarchs,  a  variety 
of  statements  and  expressions  which,  from  the  occasions 
to  which  they  relate,  the  connections  in  which  they 
occur,  or  the  things  specified,  naturally  imply  the  local 
person  d  presence  of  the  Divine  speaker,  especially 
when  considered  in  connection  with  the  instances  in 
which  it  is  clearly  shown  that  he  was  visibly  present. 
In  the  course  of  that  history  there  are  numerous  inti- 


EN    MOSES   AND   THE    PROPHETS.  63 

mations  that  the  worshippers  of  Jehovah  had  places 
appropriated  to  their  religious  services,  where  they 
ottered  prayers  and  sacrifices,  and  where,  by  an  audible 
voice,  he  held  immediate  and  familiar  converse  with 
them.  Thus  in  the  first  recorded  instance  of  worship, 
Gen.  iv.,  we  read  that  Cain,  and  Abel  also,  "brought  an 
offering  unto  Jehovah.  And  Jehovah  had  respect  unto 
Abel  and  to  his  offering  :  but  unto  Cain  and  his  offering 
he  had  not  respect ;  and  Cain  was  very  wroth,  and  his 
countenance  fell.  And  Jehovah  said  unto  Cain,  Why 
art  thou  wroth?  and  why  is  thy  countenance  fallen?" 
It  is  apparent  from  this  narrative,  and  from  their  dis- 
similar occupations,  that  they  prepared  their  offerings 
not  in  concert,  but  separately  from  each  other;  that  they 
brought  them  to  the  same  place  at  the  same  time ;  that 
they  respectively  offered  them  to  Jehovah  ;  and  that  he 
was  present  in  such  a  way  as  to  be  recognized  by  them, 
for  he  immediately  indicated  to  their  apprehension  and 
conviction  his  acceptance  of  one  and  rejection  of  the 
other,  and  spoke  directly  and  pointedly  to  Cain.  After 
his  slaughter  of  Abel,  and  probably  on  his  resorting 
again  to  the  place  of  worship  and  Divine  manifestation, 
Jehovah  spoke  again  to  him,  and  pronounced  a  curse 
upon  him  for  his  crime ;  to  which  Cain  replied,  as 
though  not  unaccustomed  to  speak  to  Jehovah,  and 
said,  among  other  things,  as  though  conscious  that  he 
was  excommunicated  and  banished  from  the  consecrated 
place  :  "  From  thy  face  shall  I  be  hid,  and  I  shall  be  a 
fugitive  and  a  vagabond  in  the  earth.  .  .  .  And  Cain  went 
out  from  the  'presence  of  Jehovah."  Strongly  implying 
that  he  had  been  accustomed  to  the  visible  presence, 
and  had  seen  Jehovah,  and  that  banishment  from  that 
place  forbade  the  hope  of  such  vision  of  him  again. 
It  is  evident  from  the  details  and  circumstances  of 


64  THE   MESSIAH 

this  scene,  and  from  references  to  it  in  other  parts  of 
Scripture,  that  there  was   no  want  of  intelligence  in 
either  of  the  parties,  as  to  the  nature  and  import  of  their 
offerings,  the  ritual  and  reference  which  they  implied, 
or  the  righteous  discrimination  and  the  moral  beaiing 
and  significance  of  the  verdicts  and  consequences  in 
their  respective  cases.     "Cain  was  of  the  wicked  one," 
a  disciple  and  servant  of  the  great  adversary,  and  slew 
his  brother  "because  his  own  works  were  evil  and  his 
brother's  righteous."'    He  knew,  as  the  questions  which 
Jehovah  addressed  to  him  imply,  that  if  he  did  well,  if 
with  the  like  faith  he  made  an  offering  like  that  of  Abel, 
he  would  in  like  manner  be  accepted  ;  and  that  he  had 
no  just  ground  to  be  angry,  or  even  to  be  disappointed 
on  being  rejected  for  taking  a  contrary  course.     But  he" 
brought — not  like  Abel  a  sin  offering,  implying  a  con- 
viction and  acknowledgment  of  his  personal  sinfulness, 
and  of  his  faith  in  that  great  expiatory  sacrifice    to 
which  his  typical  offering  owed  all  its  significance — but 
an  offering  of  fruits,  an  expression  of  acknowledgment 
to  the  Creator,  which  implied  no  acknowledgment  on  his 
part  of  his  being  a  sinner  and  needing  a  Saviour,  or  of 
his  having  any  faith  in  the  prefigured  atonement,  or  any 
disposition  to  conform  to  the  ritual  of  worship.     The 
faith  of  Abel  exhibited  on  this  Occasion  was,  like  that  of 
Abraham,  effectual  to  his  justification;  a  faith  in  the 
person,  sacrifice,  and  righteousness  of  the  Divine  Ee- 
deemer  ;  and  is  the  first  on  the  illustrious  roll  recorded, 
Heb.  xi.     And  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  as  well  as 
from  the  particulars  of  the  narrative,  we  must  conclude 
that  his  offering  was  in  all  respects  an  example  of  con- 
formity to  the  ritual  of  worship  instituted  by  Jehovah  ; 
that  it  comprised  not  merely  firstlings  of  his  flock,  but 
such  as  had  all  the  characteristics  which  are  specified  in 


IN    MOSES    AND    THE    PROPHETS.  65 

subsequent  records ;  that  it  was  made  by  fire  on  an 
altar,  at  a  place  appropriated  to  that  object ;  that  it  was 
a  medium  of  his  faith  and  an  expression  of  his  homage 
and  obedience,  solely  by  reason  of  its  reference  to  the 
person  and  prefiguration  of  the  atoning  sacrifice  of 
Christ ;  and  that  it  was  rendered  to  that  Person  then 
locally  present,  in  the  form  which  he  was  at  length  per- 
manently to  assume,  and  in  which  his  sacrifice  of  him- 
self was  to  be  made.  So  far  at  least  as  these  particu- 
lars are  concerned,  the  ritual  and  rationale  of  the  worship 
prescribed  does  not  appear  to  have  been  changed  dur- 
ing the  patriarchial  dispensation,  nor  in  that  which 
ensued,  though  in  the  Mosaic  ritual  many  details  were 
added  on  the  basis  of  those  originally  prescribed.^  The 
method  of  acceptable  worship,  the  immediate  object  of 
homage,  and  the  faith  which  was  unto  salvation,  con- 
tinued the  same  ;  and  it  is  clear  from  the  narratives  in 
various  instances,. that  burnt  offerings,  typical  sacrifices, 
were  made  to  the  delegated  one,  personating  the  prom- 
ised Seed,  under  the  designation  of  Jehovah,  or  Melach 
Jehovah,  when  he  was  locally  and  visibly  present. 

It  is  to  be  considered  that  Moses  wrote  about  2500 
years  after  the  creation  ;  that  the  children  of  Israel  had 
retained  the  language  and  customs  of  their  ancestors,  so 
as  to  render  it  superfluous  to  particularize  either  the 
religious  or  civil  institutions  of  earlier  times,  any 
farther  than  was  necessary  to  the  personal  narratives  or 
historical  notices  of  individuals  and  families.  They 
understood  and  practised  what  had  been  handed  clown 
from  the  beginning  through  Noah,  Abraham,  Jacob,  and 
others,  and  though  to  some  extent  infected  with  the 
idolatrous  spirit  of  the  Egyptians,  were  familiar  with 
the  ritual,  the  sacrifices  and  offerings,  and  other  insti- 
tutions of  the  revealed  system  of  religion.     Moreover, 


66  THE    MESSIAH 

all  that  concerned  their  religious  doctrines  and  rites  was, 
under  his  ministry,  renewed,  and  with  new  revelations 
and  ordinances  set  forth  in  writing  for  their  instruction, 
and  that  of  their  successors.  Hence  the  scanty,  and  for 
the  most  part  merely  incidental,  mention  of  things  of 
that  nature  in  his  retrospective  history.  It  by  no  means 
follows  from  the  brevity  and  infrequency  of  his  notices, 
that  such  men  as  Abel,  Enoch,  Lamech,  Noah,  Shem, 
Job,  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  whose  united  lives 
extended  from  the  first  institution  of  religious  rites  down 
to  the  settlement  of  Israel  in  Egypt,  had  not  a  clear  and 
comprehensive  knowledge  of  all  the  leading  truths  and  es- 
sential doctrines  of  revealed  religion,  which  were  known 
to  Moses  or  any  of  his  successors  prior  to  the  advent 
of  Christ.  On  the  contrary,  judging  from  the  characters 
and  relations  which  they  sustained,  the  personal  converse 
with  Jehovah  which  most  of  them  are  recorded  to  have 
had,  and  the  references  made  to  several  of  them  in  the 
prophets  and  in  the  New  Testament,  we  must  conclude 
that  they  had  such  knowledge.  They  received  instruc- 
tion directly  from  the  Great  Eevealer.  Most  of  them 
were,  at  times,  inspired,  and  prophesied.  And  one 
might  as  well  conclude  that  Solomon  did  not  understand 
even  the  simplest  forms  of  numerical  computation,  be- 
cause mathematics  arc  not  mentioned  among  the  sub- 
jects upon  which  he  spoke  or  wrote,  as  to  conclude,  be- 
cause so  little  is  recorded  of  them  in  detail  by  Moses, 
that  these  men  of  world-wide  celebrity  for  their  religious 
faith  and  practice,  and  their  eminence  as  princes  and 
heads  of  nations,  did  not  understand  the  doctrines  and 
the  faith  which  they  professed,  and  for  which  they  are 
set  forth  as  examples  to  Christian  believers  under  the 
present  dispensation. 

The  possession  of  such  knowledge  on  their  part,  and 


IN    MOSES   AND    THE    PROPHETS.  67 

the  reality  of  the  local  presence  and  often  the  visible 
appearance  of  the  Messiah,  the  Messenger  Jehovah,  may 
be  illustrated  by  reference  to  the  personal  history  of 
Moses,  Noah,  and  Joshua,  and  to  the  use  of  terms  by 
them  and  by  other  sacred  writers. 

After  the  children  of  Israel  had  sojourned  in  Egypt 
aboat  four  hundred  years,  Moses  was  called  to  conduct 
them  to  the  land  of  promise.  By  oppressive  laws  and 
rigorous  exactions  under  a  new  dyuasty  of  kings  to- 
wards the  close  of  the  period  of  their  bondage,  they 
were  greatly  depressed.  At  the  birth  of  Moses,  however, 
there  were  those  who  had  faith,  and  the  knowledge  of 
the  true  religion  was  by  no  means  generally  effaced. 
In  the  exercise  of  faith  his  parents  concealed  him 
three  months.  "  The  children  of  Israel  sighed  by 
reason  of  their  bondage,  and  they  cried,  and  their  cry 
came  vtp  unto  the  Elohim  by  reason  of  the  bondage.  And 
Elohim  heard  their  groaning,  and  Elohim  remembered 
his  covenant  with  Abraham,  with  Isaac,  and  with  Jacob ; 
and  Elohim  looked  upon  the  children  of  Israel,  and 
Elohim  had  respect  unto  them."  Exocl.  ii.  The  people 
generally,  it  would  seem,  cried  to  the  Elohe  of  their 
fathers  for  relief,  and  were  heard  and  regarded. 

Though  from  childhood  to  the  age  of  forty  Moses 
was  one  of  the  family  and  court  of  Pharoah,  and  prob- 
ably, therefore,  could  have  had  no  peculiar  advantages 
of  instruction  in  the  true  religion,  he  nevertheless  had 
such  knowledge  and  experience  of  it,  that  "by  faith, 
when  he  was  come  to  years,  he  refused  to  be  called  the 
son  of  Pharaoh's  daughter ;  choosing  rather  to  suffer 
affliction  with  the  people  of  God  than  to  enjoy  the  plea- 
sures of  sin  for  a  season ;  esteeming  the  reproach  of 
Christ  greater  riches  than  the  treasures  of  Egypt :  for  he 
had  respect  unto  the  recompense  of  the  reward."  Heb.  xi. 


68  THE    MESSIAH 

In  this  brief  testimony  concerning  him,  we  clearly 
recognize  the  faith  of  Abraham,  and  of  the  prophets 
and  martyrs  of  later  times.  lie  made  no  compromises 
with  the  honors,  riches,  or  pleasures  of  the  world,  but 
renounced  them.  He  sought  not  to  serve  two  masters. 
He  clearly  discerned  what  distinguished  the  people  of 
God  from  idolaters  and  unbelievers,  and  was  well  aware 
of  the  afflictions  and  trials  which  were  consequent  on 
their  faith,  and  their  allegiance  and  obedience  to  the 
Messiah,  the  Divine  Mediator,  the  Messenger  Jehovah, 
the  Christ.  In  the  certain  prospect  of  affliction,  re- 
proaches, and  sufferings,  he  chose  publicly  to  manifest 
his  faith  and  allegiance  by  his  conduct.  He  forsook  the 
court  of  Pharaoh,  renounced  the  pleasures  of  sin  and 
the  riches  of  Egypt,  and  welcomed  the  cross. 

In  the  family  of  Jethro,  the  priest  of  Midian,  he  prob- 
ably found  true  worshippers,  and  met  with  nothing  detri- 
mental to  his  sentiments  ;  and  by  the  scene  in  which  the 
M  <senger  Jehovah  visibly  appeared  to  him,  doubtless 
his  faith  was  so  confirmed,  and  his  knowledge  increased, 
as  to  qualify  him  for  the  extraordinary  services  to  which 
he  was  called.  Hence  Ave  further  read  of  him  that, 
after  the  miracles  and  plagues  by  which  Pharaoh  was  at 
length  made  to  yield,  "  By  faith  he  forsook  Egypt,  not 
fearing  the  wrath  of  the  king.  .  .  .  And  by  faith  he 
kept  the  passover  and  the  sprinkling  of  blood."  Heb. 
xi. 

Now  it  is  in  the  light  of  his  character  as  thus  referred 
to — of  his  knowledge  and  experience  of  the  true  religion 
as  held  by  the  people  of  God  then  and  in  earlier  times — 
of  his  faith  in  the  person  and  mediatorial  work  of  the 
Messiah — that  we  are  to  regard  him  as  the  writer  of  the 
primeval  and  patriarchal  history  ;  and  if  it  is  evident  that 
he  recognized  the  Messiah  in  the  person  of  the  Messen- 


IN    .MOSES    AND    THE    PROPHETS.  69 

ger  Jehovah,  and  that  in  all  his  subsequent  narratives 
he  designated  the  same  official  person  by  the  terms  Je- 
hovah, Elohim,  and  Elohe,  as  well  as  by  the  terms  Mes- 
senger, Adon,  and  Adonai,  then  it  is  safe  to  conclude  that 
he  intended  to  designate  the  same  Person  by  the  same 
terms  in  the  earlier  history. 

At  the  period  of  the  legation  of  Moses,  the  word 
Elohim  was  in  familiar  use  in  Egypt  and  among  the 
Israelites  as  the  designation  of  the  object  of  religious 
homage ;  very  probably  it  was  the  only  name  of  God 
known  to  the  people  generally.  Moses  accordingly,  in 
the  first  two  chapters  of  Exodus,  which  probably  were 
written  before  the  book  of  Genesis,  employs  that  name 
only.  The  third  chapter  opens  with  the  announcement 
of  the  Messenger  Jehovah  appearing  in  the  bush,  and 
in  its  progress  applies  to  him  indifferently  the  names 
Elohim  and  Jehovah  ;  and  in  the  fourth  and  ensuing 
chapters,  the  same,  and  Adonai  and  El-Shadai,  but 
most  frequently  Jehovah. 

If  now  we  suppose  the  book  of  Genesis  to  have  been 
written  by  him  after  the  events  in  Egypt,  at  the  Eed 
Sea,  and  at  mount  Sinai,  and  the  setting  up  of  the 
tabernacle,  (which  occurred  about  twelve  months  after 
the  exodus,)  where  the  people,  though  generally  fami- 
liar only  with  the  name  Elohim,  must  have  become  in 
some  degree  used  to  the  name  Jehovah,  we  may  per- 
haps discern  a  fitness  and  beauty  in  the  first  announce- 
ments of  the  Creator  in  Genesis;  where,  in  the  first 
chapter  and  the  first  three  verses  of  the  second,  the 
name  Elohim  only  is  used ;  in  the  second,  from  the 
fcurth  verse,  the  name  Jehovah  Elohim,  and  in  the  en- 
suing chapters  these  names  separately  and  conjointly, 
and  various  other  designations,  as  Melach  Jehovah, 
Adonai,  and  El-Shadai.     In   numerous   instances  the 


70  THE    MESSIAH 

articleis  prefixed  to  the  name  Elohim,  as  if  emphatically 
to  designate  the  God  of  Israel,  the  Creator,  as  the  true 
Elohim,  in  distinction  from  the  false  god    of  idolaters. 

By  this  method  he  recalled,  and  reestablished  in  the 
minds  of  the  people,  all  the  Divine  designations  known 
to  the  patriarchs  of  preceding  ages,  and  their  reference 
and  applicability  as  designations  to  the  one  mediatorial 
Person ;  rendering  it  plain  that  the  Elohim  of  the  Israel- 
ites in  Egypt,  and  of  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis,  was 
identical  with  Jehovah,  Melach  the  Messenger,  Adonai, 
&c.  In  this  view  the  resemblance  of  the  first  verses  of 
the  Gospel  of  John  is  noticeable,  considering  that  it 
was  his  object  to  identify  the  Christ,  as  he  appeared 
visibly  incarnate,  with  Elohim  the  Creator  announced 
in  the  first  verses  of  Genesis. 

Let  it  then  be  observed  that  in  the  narrative,  Exod.  iii. 
and  iv.,  it  is  evident  that  one  Divine  personage  only  is 
referred  to  and  designated  by  the  several  titles  which  are 
employed.  That  Divine  personage  appeared  to  Moses 
in  the  Shekina  or  visible  glory,  the  bright  cloud-like  en- 
velope so  familiar  afterwards  on  mount  Sinai  and  in  the 
tabernacle.  Moses,  recording  this  appearance,  says, "  The 
Messenger  Jehovah  appeared  to  him."  This  was  a  person 
bearing  an  official  title — one  sent — the  Messenger  of  the 
Covenant,  for  whose  appearance  incarnate  John  Baptist 
was  to  prepare  t!:e  way,  Mai.  iii.  Moses  turned  to 
behold  the  sight.  And  when  Jehovah,  he  who  appeared 
in  the  visible  glory,  the  Messenger,  saw  that  he  turned 
aside  to  see,  Elohim,  that  is,  the  person  in  the  visible 
Shekina,  "called  unto  him  out  of  the  midst  of  the  bush, 
.  .  .  and  said,  I  am  the  Elohe  of  thy  father,  the  Elohe  of 
Abraham,  the  Elohe  of  Isaac,  and  the  Elohe  of  Jacob. 
And  Moses  hid  his  face;  fir  he  was  af. aid  to  look 
upon  Elohim  ;"  that  is,  upon  the  ineffable  glory  of  the 


IN    MOSES    AND    THE    PROPHETS.  71 

Person,  the  Messenger  Jehovah,  the  Elohim,  who  thus 
visibly  appeared  to  him.  "And  Jehovah  said,  I  have 
surely  seen  the  affliction  of  my  people  which  are  in  Egypt, 
and  have  heard  their  cry,  .  .  .  and  lam  comedown  to  de- 
liver them  :"  come  down  as  a  Person,  so  as  to  be  locally 
ancl  visibly  present.  The  Elohim  to  whom  the  children 
of  Israel  cried,  (chap,  ii.,)  and  who  heard  their  cry,  is,  on 
his  first  appearing  visibly,  called  the  Messenger  Jeho- 
vah, and  here  announces  himself  to  be  Jehovah  who  had 
heard  their  cry  and  come  down  to  deliver  them.  So 
surely  therefore  as  these  acts  of  seeing  the  affliction  of 
the  people,  hearing  their  cry,  coming  down,  and  speak- 
ing to  Moses,  are  the  acts  of  a  Person,  this  narrative  and 
these  several  designations  relate  to  one  and  the  same 
Person ;  and  this  Person  is  shown  to  be  the  Messiah  by 
his  official  title. 

It  being  thus  manifest  that,  as  a  Person  locally  and 
visibly  appearing,  these  several  designations  were  equally 
applicable  to  him,  Moses  in  the  next  ensuing  verses 
calls  him  Elohim,  and  asks  by  what  name  he  shall  desig- 
nate him  to  the  children  of  Israel.  It  is  to  be  observed 
that  there  is  no  record  of  any  visible  appearance  of  the 
Messenger  Jehovah  prior  to  this  since  the  days  of 
Jacob  ;  and  it  is  probable  that  the  names  Jehovah  and 
Messenger  Jehovah,  though  known  to  the  true  worship- 
pers, were  not  familiar  to  the  people  generally.  But 
these  designations  being  peculiar,  and  more  distinguish- 
ing than  that  of  Elohim,  which  was  in  common  use 
among  idolaters,  were  now  to  be  proclaimed  and  brought 
into  familiar  use.  "  And  Elohim  said  unto  Moses,  I 
am  that  I  am;  and  he  said,  Thus  shalt  thou  say  unto 
the  children  of  Israel,  I  AM  hath  sent  me  unto  you :" 
expressions  equivalent  to  those  of  John,  "In  him  was 
life," -"I  am  he  that  liveth ;"  that  is,  the  self-existent. 


72  THE    MESSIAH 

"  And  Elohim  said  moreover  unto  Moses,  Thus  shalt 
thou  say  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  Jehovah  Elohe 
of  your  fathers,  the  Elohe  of  Abraham,  the  Elohe  of 
Isaac,  and  the  Elohe  of  Jacob,  hath  sent  me  unto  you. 
.  .  .  Go  and  gather  the  elders  of  Israel  together,  and 
say  unto  them,  Jehovah  Elohe  of  your  fathers,  the 
Elohe  of  Abraham,  of  Isaac  and  of  Jacob,  appeared 
unto  me,  saying,  I  have  surely  visited  you  and  seen  that 
which  is  done  to  you  in  Egypt."  But  it  was  the  Mes- 
senger Jehovah  who  appeared  to  him,  and  speaking  from 
the  midst  of  the  bush  said,  "I  am  the  Elohe  of  thy 
father,  the  Elohe  of  Abraham,  the  Elohe  of  Isaac,  and  the 
Elohe  of  Jacob.  ...  I  have  surely  seen  the  affliction  of 
my  people  which  are  in  Egypt,  and  have  heard  their  cry." 

Again:  "The  elders  of  Israel  shall  hearken  to  thy 
voice,  and  thou  shalt  come,  thou  and  the  elders  of 
Israel,  unto  the  king  of  Egypt,  and  ye  shall  say  unto 
him,  Jehovah  Elohe  of  the  Hebrews  hath  met  with  us. 
.  .  .  And  now  let  us  go  that  we  may  sacrifice  to  Jehovah 
our  Elohe."  Jehovah  Elohe  of  the  Hebrews,  and  the 
Angel  Jehovah  who  appeared  to  Moses,  is  therefore  one 
and  the  same  Person.  The  Messenger  Jehovah,  the  Per- 
son who  locally  and  visibly  met  with  Moses,  was  the 
Elohe  of  the  patriarchial  dispensation. 

In  what  follows,  chap,  iv.,  for  the  encouragement  and 
confirmation  of  Moses,  the  power  of  working  miracles  is 
imparted  to  him  by  Jehovah,  that  the  people  might 
"believe  that  Jehovah  Elohe  of  their  fathers,  the  Elohe 
of  Abraham,  and  the  Elohe  of  Isaac,  and  the  Elohe  of 
Jacob,  hath  appeared  unto  thee."  By  thus  demonstrat- 
ing the  reality  of  the  appearance,  he  would  no  less  con- 
clusively show  that  the  appearance  of  the  Messenger 
Jehovah  was  no  other  than  the  appearance  locally  and 
personally  of  the  Elohe  of  their  fathers. 


IN"  MOSES  AND  THE   PROPHETS.  73 

Jehovah,  still  conversing  with  Moses,  said,  (verse  11,) 
"  Who  hath  made  man's  mouth,  or  who  maketh  the  dumb, 
or  deaf,  or  the  seeing,  or  the  blind?  Have  not  I,  Je- 
hovah? Now  therefore  go,  and  I  will  be  with  thy 
mouth,  and  teach  thee  what  thou  shalt  say."  Here  the 
same  Person,  the  Messenger,  asserts  the  prerogatives  of 
Creator,  and  the  office  of  prophet  or  teacher.  When 
Moses  and  Aaron  had  gathered  the  elders  of  Israel, 
"  Aaron  spake  all  the  words  which  Jehovah  had  spoken 
unto  Moses,  and  did  the  signs  in  the  sight  of  the  people. 
And  the  people  believed ;  and  when  they  heard  that 
Jehovah,"  that  is,  the  Messenger,  "had  visited  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel,  and  that  he  had  looked  upon  their  afflic- 
tions," which  the  Messenger  asserted  of  himself,  "then 
they  bowed  their  heads  and  worshipped." 

In  the  progress  of  the  narrative,  and  throughout  the 
wiitings  of  Moses,  the  use  of  the  same  Divine  appella- 
tions as  in  chap.  iii.  and  iv.,  indifferently  and  inter- 
changeably, with  reference  to  the  same  acts,  leaves  no 
room  to  doubt  but  that  the  same  Divine  personage  is 
uniformly  referred  to.  Generally,  that  Person  is  called 
Jehovah  when  he  speaks  to  Moses.  When  he  appears 
visibly,  as  in  the  cloudy  pillar,  he  is  called  the  Messen- 
ger Jehovah.  When  his  attributes  or  relations,  as  in 
covenant,  are  referred  to,  he  is  called  the  Elohe.  In  all 
cases  alike  he  is  the  official  Person,  the  Messiah,  the 
Messenger  of  the  Covenant.  Hence  Stephen,  Acts  vii., 
referring  to  the  whole  period  of  Moses'  intercourse  with 
him,  says,  "  This  Moses  is  he  that  was  in  the  church  in 
the  wilderness  with  the  Messenger  which  spake  to  him 
in  the  mount  Sinai,  and  with  our  fathers,  who  received 
the  lively  oracles  to  give  unto  us."  Thus  it  was  the 
Messenger  who  spoke  to  Moses  and  to  the  elders  and 
people  at  mount  Sinai,  though  he  is  there  called  Jeho- 
4 


74  THE    MESSIAH 

vah  and  Elohim.  "  And  Jehovah  said  unto  Moses,  Lo, 
I  come  unto  thee  in  a  thick  cloud,  that  the  people  may 
hear  when  I  speak  with  thee,  and  believe  thee  for  ever. 
.  .  .  And  Jehovah  came  down  upon  mount  Sinai  on 
the  top  of  the  mount.  .  .  .  And  Elohim  spake  all  these 
words,  saying,  I  am  Jehovah  thy  Elohe,  which  have 
brought  thee  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  &c.  .  .  .  And 
the  people  [at  the  close  of  the  scene]  said  unto  Moses, 
Speak  thou  with  us,  and  we  will  hear,  but  let  not  Elo- 
him speak  with  us  lest  we  die."  Exod.  xix.,  xx.  Here 
the  several  Divine  appellations  are  by  Moses  employed 
to  designate  the  Person  whom  Stephen  calls  the  Mes- 
senger. And  Moses,  Deut.  v.,  says,  "  Jehovah  talked 
with  you  face  to  face  in  the  mount,  out  of  the  midst  of 
the  fire." 

Once  more,  Exod.  xiv.  19,  Moses,  speaking  of  the 
passage  of  the  Israelites  through  the  sea,  says,  "The 
Messenger  Elohim,  which  went  before  the  camp  of 
Israel,  removed  and  went  behind  them ;  and  the  pillar 
of  the  cloud  went  from  before  their  face,  and  stood 
behind  them :  and  it  came  between  the  camp  of  the 
Egyptians  and  the  camp  of  Israel,  and  it  was  a  cloud 
and  darkness  to  them,  but  it  gave  light  by  night  to 
these."  Here  the  same  Person  who  is  elsewhere  called 
the  Messenger  Jehovah,  is  called  the  Messenger  Elohim. 
This  Person,  and  his  change  of  position,  are  distin- 
guished from  the  cloudy  pillar,  and  its  removal  from 
the  front  to  the  rear  of  the  camp.  The  Divine  acts 
which  ensued  are  ascribed  to  Jehovah ;  among  which 
we  are  told  that  "  Jehovah  looked  unto  the  host  of  the 
Egyptians  through  the  pillar  of  fire  and  of  the  cloud,  and 
troubled  the  host  of  the  Egyptians."  But  it  was  the 
Messenger  who  was  in  the  pillar  of  fire,  (the  Shekina,) 
and  who  therefore  looked  through  the  pillar  of  cloud 


IN   MOSES  AND  THE   PROPHETS.  75 

which  had  been  interposed  between  him  and  the 
Egyptians. 

Suppose  the  Israelites  under  Moses  to  have  had  a 
knowledge,  by  previous  revelations,  of  the  truth  con- 
cerning the  person  and  work  of  Christ;  and  the  way 
of  salvation  through  him.  In  that  case,  such  revela- 
tions not  being  committed  to  writing  prior  to  Moses, 
buUhaving  been  matter  of  oral  instruction,  were  sig- 
nificantly expressed  in  an  outward  and  visible  manner 
by  typical  sacrifices,  and  other  religious  rites  and  pre- 
scriptions. By  complying  with  these  rites,  the  devout 
Israelite  expressed  his  faith  in  the  revealed  truths 
which  they  were  employed  to  recall  and  commemo- 
rate. The  visible  types  were  illustrative  of  revealed 
truths  already  known.  They  were  not  the  medium  of 
a  revelation,  but  a  medium  through  which  faith  in  an 
existing  revelation  and  obedience  to  it  were  expressed. 
Their  office  was  not  prophetic,  but  illustrative. 

Thus,  when  under  the  Levitical  economy  the  high 
priest,  duly  prepared  and  arrayed,  entered  the  most  holy 
place,  his  official  person  and  acts  constituted  a  striking 
visible  emblem  of  certain  truths  concerning  the  Messiah's 
person  and  sacerdotal  Avork.  Beholding  that  visible 
token  and  illustration  of  these  truths,  the  believer's  faith 
was  called  into  exercise.  So  when  the  priest  offered 
a  sacrifice  of  atonement  and  sprinkled  the  blood, 
burnt  incense,  or  performed  any  other  official  act;  and 
when  the  worshipper  laid  his  hand  on  the  head  of 
the  animal  to  be  sacrificed,  celebrated  the  paschal  sup- 
per, or  complied  in  any  other  respect  with  the  pre- 
scribed ritual. 

This  method  of  worship  and  obedience  through  signi- 
ficant tokens  and  visible  emblems,  and  types  illustrative 
of  known  truths,  was  instituted  soon  after  the  fall,  and 


76  THE   MESSIAH 

suited  in  all  respects  the  economy  of  outward  and  visi- 
ble manifestation  which  prevailed  down  to  the  advent  of 
Christ.  Thus  Abel,  the  patriarchs  and  prophets,  wor- 
shipped, and  thus  Simeon  and  Anna  at  the  time  of  the 
incarnation. 

Of  the  patriarch  Noah  we  read,  Genesis  vi.-ix., 
that  he  found  grace  in  the  eyes  of  Jehovah ;  that 
he  was  a  righteous  man;  that  he  walked  with  (the) 
Elohim ;  that  Elohim  repeatedly  spoke  to  him,  directed 
him  to  build  an  ark,  and  prescribed  the  form  of  it, 
forewarned  him  of  the  deluge  and  of  its  object,  directed 
him  to  enter  the  ark,  and  shut  him  in ;  that  he  did 
according  to  all  that  Jehovah  commanded  him ;  that 
Elohim  directed  him  to  go  forth  from  the  ark  ■  that 
he  built  an  altar  unto  Jehovah,  took  of  animals  de- 
nominated clean,  and  offered  burnt  offerings  on  the 
altar,  and  was  accepted;  that  Elohim  blessed  Noah 
and  his  sons,  prescribed  certain  laws  to  be  observed 
thereafter,  and  announced  a  covenant  of  which  the 
rainbow  was  made  a  perpetual  token. 

In  all  these  communications,  the  form  of  address 
is  like  that  of  a  person  locally  and  visibly  present: 
"  I,  even  I,  do  bring  a  flood  of  waters  upon  the  earth  to 
destroy  all  flesh.  .  .  .  But  with  thee  will  I  establish  my 
covenant.  .  .  .  Come  thou  and  all  thy  house  into  the  ark  ; 
for  thee  have  I  seen  righteous  before  me,  in  this  genera- 
tion. .  .  .  Elohim  spake  unto  Noah  and  to  his  sons  with 
him,  saying,  I,  behold,  I  establish  my  covenant  with 
you  and  with  your  seed  after  you."  And  when 
Noah  offered  burnt  offerings  on  the  altar,  "  Jehovah 
smelled  a  sweet  savor."  From  all  which,  and  the  occa- 
sion and  nature  of  the  things  said  and  done,  and  a 
comparison  of  this  with  the  occasions  of  local  appear- 
ance to  Abraham  and   others,  which   are   declared   to 


IN   MOSES   AND   THE   PEOPHETS.  77 

have  been  visible,  we  may  without  presumption  con- 
clude that  He  who  spake  to  Noah  was  present  in  a 
visible  form.  That  he  was  one  of  the  most  eminent 
and  most  favored  of  those  with  whom  Jehovah  con- 
versed, whose  righteousness  he  attested,  and  to  whom 
he  assigned  the  most  important  services,  and  im- 
parted the  highest  gifts,  is  shown  by  his  being  named 
first  of  the  three,  who,  by  their  preeminent  righteous- 
ness, might,  if  present,  be  expected  by  the  captive  Isra- 
elites to  shield  them  from  exterminating  judgments. 
"  Though  these  three  men,  Noah,  Daniel,  and  Job, 
were  in  the  land,  they  should  deliver  but  their  own 
souls  by  their  righteousness,  saith  Jehovah  Elohim." 
Ezekiel  xiv.  And  if  there  was,  in  the  course  of  the 
patriarehial  or  Levitical  dispensations,  any  occasion  on 
which  the  nature  and  magnitude  of  the  events  were 
reasons  for  the  local  and  visible  presence  of  Jehovah, 
surely  that  of  the  judicial  destruction  of  the  Avhole 
race,  excepting  Noah  and  his  family,  may  be  assumed 
to  have  been  such. 

The  word  translated  altar  is  from  a  root  which  sig- 
nifies to  kill,  to  slaughter  animals  for  sacrifice,  to  sacrifice; 
also  a  sacrifice,  the  victim,  or  thing,  sacrificed;  and  in  the 
form  translated  altar  it  denotes  the  place  or  instrument 
of  sacrifice,  on  which  the  slaughtered  victim  (wholly 
or  in  part)  was  consumed  by  fire,  and  the  blood 
poured  out  or  sprinkled.  See  Levit.  viii.  21,  24,  xvii. 
6,  and  elsewhere.  Accordingly,  to  build  an  altar  unto 
Jehovah,  was  to  erect  a  structure  on  which  to  offer  to 
him  slaughtered  animals,  to  be  consumed  (probably  in  all 
instances  of  acceptable  worship)  by  fire  caused  immedi- 
ately by  him.  Such  altars  were,  in  many  instances,  and 
probably  in  all,  erected  by  his  direction,  and  at  places 
specified  by  him,  and  they  were  places  of  customary 


78  THE    MESSIAH 

■worship  and  of  Divine  manifestation.  It  would  there- 
fore be  incongruous  and  preposterous  to  suppose  that 
the  worshippers  did  not  understand  the  doctrines  and 
typical  references  involved  in  the  system,  as  well  as 
the  ritual  forms  and  observances. 

The  altar  of  burnt  offerings,  above  referred  to  as 
the  instrument  of  sacrifice  by  the  shedding  of  blood, 
was  typical  of  the  cross  as  the  instrument  on  which 
our  Lord  offered  himself  a  sacrifice ;  and  to  this  un- 
doubtedly the  true  worshippers  had  reference,  which 
implies  a  right  apprehension  of  his  person  and  office,  as 
well  as  of  the  necessity  and  efficacy  of  his  expiatory 
death,  and  its  relation  to  the  justification  and  acceptance 
of  believers.  His  personal  presence,  in  a  form  adapted 
to  suggest  such  apprehensions,  would  seem  to  have 
been  as  necessary,  when  typical  offerings  were  made 
by  Abel,  Noah,  and  others,  during  the  patriarchial 
dispensation,  as  when  made  in  the  tabernacle  and 
temple,  where  he  was  present  in  the  visible  Shekina, 
as  is  hereafter  to  be  more  particularly  noticed.  At 
present  it  may  suffice  to  observe,  that  since  he  is  de- 
clared to  have  been  present  in  the  likeness  of  man, 
and  as  the  Melach  Jehovah,  on  some  occasions  when 
burnt  offerings  were  offered  to  him  with  his  sanction 
and  acceptance,  as  in  that  relating  to  Isaac  in  the 
history  of  Abraham,  that  of  his  appearance  to  Manoah, 
and  that  to  Gideon,  it  may  reasonably  be  inferred  that 
his  personal  presence  was  equally  requisite  on  all  oc- 
casions of  similar  offerings. 

The  local  personal  presence  of  Jehovah  in  the  form 
in  which  lie  was  often  visible  is  implied  and  affirmed 
in  passages  like  the  followiDg : 

When  the  children  of  Israel  at  Eephidim  murmured 
against  Moses    because    they  had    no  water,  Jehovah 


IN   MOSES  AND  THE   PROPHETS.  79 

directed  Moses  to  advance  with  the  people  and  the 
elders,  and  said,  "  Behold,  I  will  stand  before  thee  upon 
the  rock  in  Horeb,  and  thou  shalt  smite  the  rock,"  &c. 
"And  Moses  called  the  name  of  the  place  Massah,  &c, 
because  of  the  chiding  of  the  children  of  Israel,  and 
because  they  tempted  Jehovah,  saying,  Is  Jehovah 
among  us  or  not  ?"  Exod.  xvii.  7 ;  i.  e.,  is  he  person- 
ally and  locally  present  or  not  ? 

After  the  apostasy  manifested  in  making  a  molten 
calf,  Jehovah  said  to  Moses,  Depart  with  the  people, 
&c,  and  I  will  send  an  angel  before  thee ;  for  I  will 
not  go  up  in  the  midst  of  thee,  lest  I  consume  thee,  &c. 
Moses  having  removed  the  tabernacle  out  of  the  camp, 
the  cloudy  pillar  descended  and  stood  at  the  door  of  the 
tabernacle;  and  Jehovah  talked  with  Moses.  And 
Jehovah  spake  unto  Moses  face'  to  face,  as  a  man 
speaketh  unto  his  friend.  Moses  having  expressed  his 
great  anxiety  at  the  proposed  substitution  of  an  angel, 
and  prayed  for  further  instruction,  Jehovah  said,  "My 
presence  shall  go  with  thee ;"  and  he  said,  "  If  thy 
presence  \i.  e.,  thou,  thyself]  go  not  with  me,  carry  us 
not  up  hence.  For  wherein  shall  it  be  known  here 
that  I  and  thy  people  have  found  grace  in  thy  sight  ? 
Is  it  not  in  that  thou  goest  with  us  f  So  shall  we  be 
separated,  I  and  thy  people,  from  all  the  people  that 
are  upon  the  face  of  the  earth."  Moses,  for  further 
assurance,  desired  to  see  the  splendor  of  Jehovah's  per- 
son, and,  in  a  modified  degree,  his  request  was  granted. 
Jehovah  descended — his  glory  passed  by,  &c.  Exod. 
xxxiii.  34.  This  whole  scene  implies  his  local  personal 
presence,  in  distinction  from  his  universal,  invisible 
presence. 

The  visible  Deity  is  intended  in  all  such  phrases 
as,  "before  the  Lord,"  "being  seen,"  "going  with," 


80  THE   MESSIAH 

"among  you,"  "  in  the  midst  of  you,"  &c.,  a  local  refer- 
ence being  manifest. 

"  Ye  have  despised  Jehovah  which  is  among  you." 
Numb.  xi.  20. 

The  Egyptians  "have  heard  that  thou,  Jehovah,  art 
among  this  people ;  that  thou,  JehoA^ah,  art  seen  face  to 
face ;  and  that  thy  cloud  standeth  over  them ;  and  that 
thou  goest  before  them  by  day-time  in  a  pillar  of  a 
cloud,  and  in  a  pillar  of  fire  by  night."  Numb.  xiv. 
14.  Thus  Moses  argued  to  avert  the  destruction  threat- 
ened on  occasion  of  the  murmuring  at  the  report  of 
the  spies.  The  passage  clearly  imports  that  it  was 
Jehovah  himself  who  was  seen  face  to  face,  and  who 
went  in  the  cloud. 

So  when  a  portion  of  the  people  resolved  presump- 
tuously to  proceed,  Moses  says,  Go  not  up,  for  Jehovah 
is  not  among  you.     Numb.  xiv.  42  ;  Deut.  i.  42. 

"  The  Lord»  thy  God  walketh  in  the  midst  of  thy 
camp."     Deut.  xxiii.  14. 

In  the  future  misery  and  desolation  of  the  people 
they  will  say,  "Are  not  these  evils  come  upon  us  be- 
cause our  God  is  not  among  us?"     Deut.  xxxi.  17. 

When  the  Israelites  were  about  to  cross  the  Jordan 
to  Jericho,  Joshua,  referring  to  the  miracle  by  which 
they  were  to  pass  over  dry-shod,  says,  "  Hereby  ye 
shall  know  that  the  living  God  is  among  you." 

Moses  is  directed  to  exclude  lepers,  "  that  they  defile 
not  the  camp  in  the  midst  of  which  I  dwell."  Numb. 
v.  3. 

"The  sons  of  God  came  to  present  themselves  before 
Jehovah ;  and  Satan  came  also  amongst  them."  Job 
i.  6.  The  context  shows  that  a  local  personal  presence 
is  intended. 

"  God  is  in  the  midst  of  her,  she  shall  not  be  moved." 


IN   MOSES   AND  THE    PROPHETS.  81 

Ps.  xlvi.  5.  "  Great  is  the  Holy  One  in  the  midst  of 
thee."  Isa.  xii.  6.  "  I  am  God  and  not  man,  the  Holy 
One  in  the  midst  of  thee."  Hosea  xi.  9.  "Thou,  0 
Jehovah,  art  in  the  midst  of  us  ;  leave  us  not."  Jer. 
xiv.  9. 

Joel,  predicting  the  millennium,  says,  ii.  27,"  Ye  shall 
know  that  I  am  in  the  midst  of  Israel,  and  that  I  am 
the  Lord  your  God,  and  none  else."  See  Zeph.  hi.  15- 
17  :  "  The  King  of  Jsrael,  even  Jehovah,  is  in  the 
midst  of  thee ;  thou  shalt  not  see  evil  any  more.  The 
Lord  thy  God  in  the  midst  of  thee  is  mighty."  And 
Zech.  ii.  5,  x.  11,  and  viii.  3  :  "  For  I,  saith  Jehovah, 
will  be  the  glory  in  the  midst  of  her.  Lo,  I  come, 
and  I  will  dwell  in  the  midst  of  thee,  saith  Jehovah. 
And  many  nations,  &c.  Thus  saith  Jehovah,  I  am 
returned  unto  Zion,  and  will  dwell  in  the  midst  of 
Jerusalem;  and  Jerusalem  shall  be  called,  A  city  of 
truth  ;  and  the  mountain  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  The 
holy  mountain." 

Jesus  himself  stood  in  the  midst,  &c.  Luke  xxiv.  36, 
John,  &c.  In  the  midst  of  the  seven  candlesticks. 
Eev.  i.  13 ;  ii.  1.  In  the  midst  of  the  throne  stood  a 
Lamb.    Rev.  v.  6. 

The  angel  Jehovah  appeared  in  a  flame  of  fire  out  of 
the  midst  of  a  bush.  Exod.  hi.  2.  Jehovah  spake  out 
of  the  midst  of  the  fire.     Deut.  iv.  12. 

"Jehovah  said  unto  Moses,  Lo,  /  come  to  thee  in  a 
thick  cloud,  that  the  people  may  hear  when  I  speak 
with  thee.  Be  ready,  .  .  .  for  the  third  day  Jehovah 
will  come  down  in  the  sight  of  all  the  people  upon 
mount  Sinai.  .  .  .  And  on  the  third  day,  in  the  morn- 
ing, there  were  thunders  and  lightnings,  and  a  thick 
cloud  upon  the  mount.  .  .  .  And  Moses  brought  forth 
4* 


82  THE    MESSIAH 

the  people  out  of  the  camp  to  meet  with  the  Elohim; 
and  they  stood  at  the  nether  part  of  the  mount.  And 
mount  Sinai  was  altogether  on  a  smoke,  because  Jeho- 
vah descended  upon  it  in  fire.  .  .  .  And  .  .  Moses 
spake,  and  (the)  Elohim  answered  him  by  a  voice. 
And  Jehovah  came  down  upon  mount  Sinai,  on  the  top 
of  the  mount ;  and  Jehovah  called  Moses  up  to  the  top 
of  the  mount ;  and  Moses  went  up.  .  .  .  And  Elohim 
spake,  saying,  I  am  Jehovah,  thy  Elohe.  .  .  .  Thou 
shalt  have  no  other  Elohim  before  me."  Exod.  xix.,  xx. 

If  the  acts  here  attributed  to  Moses  are  literally  de- 
scribed, so  also  are  those  of  Jehovah.  If  Moses  literally 
went  up  to  the  top  of  the  mount,  the  narrative  no  less 
plainly  avers  that  Jehovah  came  down  to  the  top  of 
Sinai.  He  came  down  visibly — in  the  sight  of  the  peo- 
ple ;  was  personally  and  locally  present. 

On  another  occasion,  chap,  xxiv.,  he  said  unto  Moses, 
"  Come  up  unto  Jehovah,  thou  and  Aaron,  Nadab  and 
Abihu,  and  seventy  of  the  elders,  and  worship  ye  afar 
off:  and  Moses  alone  shall  come  near  Jehovah,  but  they 
shall  not  come  nigh.  .  .  .  Then  went  up  Moses  and 
Aaron,  Nadab  and  Abihu,  and  seventy  of  the  elders 
of  Israel ;  and  they  saw  the  Elohe  of  Israel,  and  there 
was  under  his  feet  as  it  were  a  paved  work.  .  .  .  They 
saw  (the)  Elohim,  and  did  eat  and  drink." 

No  terms  could  well  express  more  distinctly  a  per- 
sonal appearance,  in  the  form  seen  by  Abraham  and 
others.  His  person  was  manifest  to  their  senses.  They 
ate  and  drank  in  his  presence,  who  in  the  same  form 
partook  of  a  repast  with  the  patriarch,  and  walked 
and  conversed  with  him  as  one  human  person  does 
with  another. 

"  Jehovah  called  unto  Moses  out  of  the  midst  of  the 


IN   MOSES   AND   THE   PROPHETS.  83 

cloud.  .  .  .  And  Moses  went  into  the  midst  of  the 
cloud."  Exod.  xxvi.  16,  18.  The  cloud  then  was  such 
that  Moses  could  subsist  in  and  be  enveloped  by  it. 

"And  Jehovah  said,  I  will  appear  in  the  cloud  upon 
the  mercy-seat."  Levit.  xvi.  2.  In  this  and  similar  in-  * 
stances  a  local  personal  appearance  is  evidently  intended. 
Wo  such  phraseology  would  be  suited  to  indicate  the 
omnipresence,  or  merely  the  spiritual  presence  of  Jeho- 
vah.    See  Deut.  xxxi.  15. 

"And  the  cloud  of  Jehovah  was  upon  them  by  day 
when  they  went  out  of  the  camp.  And  it  came  to  pass 
when  the  ark  set  forward  that  Moses  said,  Rise  up,  Jeho- 
vah, and  let  thine  enemies  be  scattered,  and  let  them  that 
hate  thee  flee  before  thee.  And  when  it  rested,  he  said, 
Return,  0  Jehovah,  unto  the  many  thousands  of  Israel." 
Numb.  x.  35,  36. 

On  these  occasions  the  cloud  visibly  rose  above  the 
tabernacle,  and  advanced  before  the  children  of  Israel; 
and  again  descended  and  rested  on  the  tabernacle. 
The  address  of  Moses  seems  unintelligible,  unless  Je- 
hovah was  personally  present. 

"And  Jehovah  came  down  in  the  pillar  of  the  cloud 
and  stood  in  the  door  of  the  tabernacle.  .  .  .  And 
he  said,  With  Moses  will  /  speak  mouth  to  mouth,  even 
apparently ;  .  .  .  and  the  similitude  of  Jehovah  shall  he 
behold"  Numb.  xii.  Surely  a  local  personal  presence 
is  here  intended. 

"  At  the  door  of  the  tabernacle  before  Jehovah,  I 
will  meet  you,  to  speak  there  unto  thee ;  and  there  I 
will  meet  with  the  children  of  Israel ;  and  the  taber- 
nacle shall  be  sanctified  by  my  glory  ;  and  I  will  dwell 
among  the  children  of  Israel,  and  will  be  their  Elohim. 
And  they  shall  know  that  I  am  Jehovah  their  Elohe, 
that   brought  them   forth  out    of  the  land  of    Egypt 


84  THE    MESSIAH 

that  I  may  dwell  among  fkem."  Exod.  xxix.  42-46. 
"Defile  not  the  land  which  ye  shall  inhabit,  wherein 
I  dwell :  for  I  Jehovah  dwell  among  the  children  of 
Israel."  Numb.  xxxv.  34.  "I  have  not  dwelt  in  any 
house  since  the  time  that  I  brought  up  the  children 
of  Israel  out  of  Egypt,  even  to  this  day,  but  have 
walked  in  a  tent  and  in  a  tabernacle.  In  all  the 
places  wherein  I  have  walked  with  the  children  of 
Israel,"  &c.     2  Sam.  vii.,  and  1  Chron.  xvii. 

So  of  the  phrases,  "dwelleth  between  the  cheru- 
bim," "  sitteth  between  the  cherubim,"  and  the  like, 
which  imply  the  local  personal  presence  of  Jehovah. 

The  local  presence  and  agency  of  the  Messenger  Je- 
hovah, as  Captain  of  his  hosts,  and  dictator  to  Joshua  of 
all  the  steps  taken  by  him  in  the  conquest  and  destruc- 
tion of  the  Canaanites,  is  clearly  indicated  throughout 
the  book  of  Joshua. 

Joshua  had,  for  forty  years  in  the  wilderness,  as  min- 
ister to  Moses,  been  familiar  with  the  personal  presence, 
the  agency,  the  miraculous  power,  and  the  voice  of  the 
Messenger,  in  the  tabernacle,  in  the  pillar  of  cloud  by 
day  and  of  fire  by  night,  on  mount  Sinai,  and  on  many 
peculiar  and  special  occasions. 

His  name  properly  signifies  Saviour.  The  Hebrew 
word  Jehoshua  is  equivalent  to  the  Greek  name  Jesus, 
or  Saviour. 

On  the  occurrence  of  the  war  with  Amalek,  shortly 
after  the  passage  of  the  Red  Sea,  Joshua  was  appointed 
by  Moses  to  command  the  army  of  the  Israelites.  He 
Jed  out  the  chosen  men  of  war,  while  Moses,  Aaron,  and 
Hur  took  their  station  on  a  neighboring  hill,  where 
Moses  held  up  the  rod  of  God,  as  a  token  that  all  the 
success  under  Joshua,  in  the  destruction  of  the  Amalek- 
ites,  was  owing  to  the  superior  power  of  Jehovah  ex- 


IN   MOSES   AND   THE   PROPHETS.  85 

erted  specially  on  the  occasion.  When  Moses  held  up 
his  hand,  Israel  prevailed ;  and  when  he  let  down  his 
hand,  Amalek  prevailed. 

The  battle  being  ended  by  the  discomfiture  of  Ama- 
lek and  his  people,  Jehovah  said  unto  Moses,  "Write  this 
for  a  memorial,  and  rehearse  it  in  the  ears  of  Joshua, 
That  I  will  utterly  put  out  the  remembrance  of  Amalek 
from  under  heaven.  And  Moses  built  an  altar,  and 
called  the  name  of  it  Jehovah  Nissi,"  i.  e.,  the  Lord  my 
banner.     Exod.  xvii. 

Thus  the  supremacy  and  leadership  of  Jehovah  was 
fully  acknowledged.  It  was  his  war,  executed  under 
the  lieutenancy 'of  Joshua,  in  accordance  with  the  spe- 
cific directions  given  to  Moses,  and  in  the  exercise  of 
faith  in  the  will  of  Jehovah,  as  indicated  by  tokens  of 
his  appointment. 

On  the  occasion  of  the  giving  of  the  tables  of  stone, 
Joshua  accompanied  Moses,  as  his  minister,  into  the 
mount  of  God.  There  they  tarried  forty  days,  while 
"  the  sight  of  the  gjory  of  Jehovah  was  like  devouring 
fire  on  the  top  of  the  mount,  in  the  eyes  of  the  children 
of  Israel."  The  directions  concerning  the  construction 
of  the  tabernacle  were  given  on  that  occasion.  Exod. 
xxiv.  When  they  descended  from  the  mount,  Joshua 
seems  first  to  have  heard  the  shouting  of  the  people 
before  the  molten  image  they  had  made.     Exod.  xxxii. 

In  the  progress  of  the  events  which  succeeded  this 
defection,  the  cloudy  pillar — the  Shekina — descended 
from  Sinai,  and  stood  at  the  door  of  the  tabernacle,  and 
Jehovah  talked  with  Moses.  "And  Jehovah  spake  unto 
Moses  face  to  face,  as  a  man  speaketh  unto  his  friend. 
And  Moses  turned  again  into  the  camp,  but  his  minis- 
ter Joshua  departed  not  out  of  the  tabernacle."     He, 


86  THE   MESSIAH 

therefore,  doubtless  heard  and  saw  the  same  as  Moses. 
Ibid,  xxxiii. 

He  was  one  of  those  sent  to  examine  and  report  con- 
cerning the  land  of  Canaan,  Numb.  xhi. ;  on  which 
occasion,  Moses  changed  his  name  from  Oshea  to  Jeho- 
shua.  Ten  of  those  sent  were  unfaithful.  The  joint 
report  of  Joshua  and  Caleb  was  true  and  faithful.  The 
ten  were  destroyed  by  a  plague ;  the  two  were  pro- 
tected and  preserved.     Ibid.  xiv. 

Joshua  was  specially  set  apart  as  the  successor  of 
Moses,  and  consecrated  by  the  laying  on  of  Moses' 
hands,  in  the  presence  of  the  high  priest  and  the  con- 
gregation. Numb,  xxvii.  He,  with  '"the  high  priest, 
was  appointed  to  divide  the  land.  Ibid,  xxxiv.  When 
Moses  was  forbidden  to  enter  the  good  land,  he  was  no- 
tified that  his  minister  Joshua  would  lead  the  children 
of  Israel  thither,  and  commanded  to  encourage  him. 
Deut.  i.  38.  This  he  did,  Deut.  iii.,  and  more  emphati- 
cally, chap.  xxxi..  when  in  the  presence  of  all  Israel  he 
encouraged  him,  and  cited  the  predictions  concerning 
his  causing  the  people  to  inherit  the  land;  adding, 
"And  Jehovah,  he  it  is  that  doth  go  before  thee  ;  he  will 
be  with,  thee ;  he  will  not  fail  thee,  nor  forsake  thee ; 
fear  not,  neither  be  dismayed." 

On  the  death  of  Moses,  we  read  that  "  Joshua,  the  son 
of  Nun,  was  full  of  the  spirit  of  wisdom,  for  Moses 
had  laid  his  hands  upon  him ;  and  the  children  of  Israel 
hearkened  unto  him,  and  did  as  Jehovah  commanded 
Moses."     Deut.  xxxiv. 

Notwithstanding  all  this  training,  discipline,  and  in- 
timate fellowship  with  Moses  for  forty  years,  and  the 
premonitions,  designations  and  predictions  of  him,  as 
leader  of  Israel  in  place  of  Moses ;  yet  such  was  the 


IN    MOSES   AND   THE   PEOPHETS.  87 

sacredness  and  specialty  of  the  relation  in  which  he  was 
to  officiate,  that  Jehovah  spake  nnto  Joshua,  charged 
him  with  the  duties  he  was  to  perform,  and  promised 
him  victory  and  complete  success,  in  case  of  his  fidelity. 
"As  I  was  with  Moses,  so  /  will  he  with  thee.  I  will 
not  fail  nor  forsake  thee.  Have  not  I  commanded  thee  ? 
Be  strong  and  of  a  good  courage  ;  be  not  afraid,  neither 
be  thou  dismayed :  for  the  Lord  thy  God  is  with  thee 
whithersoever  thou  goest."     Josh.  i. 

Joshua  was  to  act  only  upon  the  authority  expressly 
delegated  to  him,  and  in  the  strictest  subordination  to 
the  directions  previously  given  to  Moses,  and  those 
which  Jehovah  now  and  from  time  to  time  announced 
to  him.  The  circumstances,  like  those  which  attended 
Moses  at'  the  commencement  and  throughout  his  official 
life,  required  an  assured  and  unwavering  faith  in  the 
declared  purposes,  the  promises,  the  presence  and  power 
of  Jehovah  the  Elohe  of  Israel,  the  king,  preserver, 
teacher,  and  guide  of  his  people. 

There  was,  no  doubt,  a  degree  of  mysteriousness  con- 
nected with  the  personal  and  local  manifestations  of  Je- 
hovah, which  rendered  an  unwavering  faith  constantly 
requisite.  The  minds  of  men,  no  less  at  that  than  at 
other  periods,  were  most  readily  and  strongly  affected 
by  visible  and  familiar  objects.  The  chief  incitements  to 
idolatry  were  visible,  and  such  as  were  supposed  to  be 
easily  comprehended.  The  fears  of  men,  founded  in 
their  consciousness  of  guilt  and  ignorance,  had  reference 
naturally  to  things  invisible  and  mysterious.  The  con- 
scious depravity,  corruption,  blindness  and  ill  desert  of 
men,  in  contrast  with  the  perfect  holiness,  righteousness, 
impartiality,  and  other  perfections  of  Jehovah,  could 
not  but  excite  their  natural  inclination  to  exclude  him 


05  THE    MESSIAH 

from  tlieir  thoughts,  instead  of  loving  and  confiding;  in 
him,  and  realizing  his  presence  by.  faith. 

Whether  for  these  or  other  reasons,  a  strong,  constant, 
unwavering  faith  in  the  person  and  the  perfections,  pre- 
rogatives and  works  of  Jehovah,  was  not  uniformly 
exhibited  even  by  the  patriarchs  and  prophets  of  the 
ancient  dispensation.  That  dispensation  was  specially 
characterized  as  one  of  outward  and  visible  manifestations, 
miraculous  interpositions,  and  audible  revelations  ;  yet 
in  the  most  signal  instances  of  strong  faith  as  occasion- 
ing  it,  some  special  and  overpowering  manifestation  of 
Jehovah  was  vouchsafed.  Thus  Abraham,  on  the  occa- 
sion of  entering  into  and  ratifying  the  covenant  concern- 
ing the  everlasting  inheritance  of  the  promised  land  by 
his  posterity,  through  Christ  as  his  Seed;  the  Shekina 
visibly  appeared,  passed  between  the  pieces  of  the  sacri- 
fice, and  probably  consumed  them.  And  again,  p1  rior 
to  the  destruction  of  Sodom,  when  that  event  was  re- 
vealed, and  the  earlier  promises  were  renewed  to  him, 
Jehovah  appeared  in  the  form  of  man,  and  conversed 
and  walked  with  him. 


IN    MOSES    AND    THE    PROPHETS.  89 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Narrative  concerning  Job. 

In  the  narrative  concerning  Job,  who  is  supposed  to 
have  lived  in  the  age  preceding  that  of  Abraham,  we 
read,  chapter  i.,  that  he  from  time  to  time  offered  burnt 
offerings  continually  ;  and  that  "  there  was  a  day  when 
the  sons  of  (the)  Elohim  came  to  present  themselves 
before  Jehovah,  and  Satan  came  also  among  them.  And 
Jehovah  said  unto  Satan,  Whence  comest  thou? — And 
Satan  went  forth  from  the  presence  of  Jehovah."  A 
statement  in  the  same  words  is  made  in  relation  to  an- 
other day,  chapter  ii. ;  from  which  passages  it  appears  that 
Job,  as  priest  of  his  family,  offered  typical  sacrifices 
according  to  the  custom  of  that  age  ;  and  that  there  was 
a  place  to  which  the  true  worshippers  came  to  present 
themselves  before  Jehovah — a  place  doubtless  of  cus- 
tomary resort  for  worship,  and,  from  the  analogy  of  the 
patriarchal  history,  of  visible  manifestation.  They  came 
there  to  present  themselves  before  Jehovah,  implying 
that  he  was  personally  and  locally  present ;  which  is  also 
strongly  implied  in  the  statement,  on  both  occasions, 
that  Satan  went  forth  from  the  presence  of  Jehovah.  That 
adversary  and  accuser  of  the  sons  of  Elohim  was  literally 
present,  and  it  is  not  perceived  how  he  could  be  said  to 
go  forth  from  the  spiritual  presence  of  Jehovah.  It  is 
probable  that  he  was  not  visible  to  the  worshippers,  and 
that  neither  the  words  addressed  to  him,  nor  his  replies, 
were  audible  to  them.  But  those  Avords  proceeded  from 
Him  from  whose  presence  he  went  forth. 


90  THE    MESSIAH 

However  this  may  be,  it  is  evident  from  subsequent 
passages  that  Job  had  clear  apprehensions  of  the  person 
and  office  of  the  Eedeemer,  and  recognized  him  as  Je- 
hovah in  the  administration  of  providence.  To  that 
official  person  he  doubtless  refers  under  the  designation 
Shaded,  translated  Almighty,  which  he  employs  more 
than  thirty  times ;  which  appears  from  Exod.  vi.  to  have 
been  familiar  to  the  patriarchs,  and  which,  from  a  com- 
parison of  passages  from  the  Old  and  New  Testaments, 
signified  the  same  divine  Person  as  Melach  Jehovah.  In 
one  instance  only  he  employs  the  term  Adonai  as  a 
Divine  designation — namely,  in  the  passage  concerning 
Wisdom,  chap,  xxviii. :  "  Elohim  understandeth  the  way 
thereof.  When  he  made  a  decree  for  the  rain,  then  did 
he  see  it.  And  unto  man  he  said,  Behold  the  fear  of 
Adonai,  that  is  wisdom."  In  chapter  xix.  he  refers  to  the 
same  Person  under  an  official  designation  of  frequent 
occurrence.  "  I  know  that  my  Eedeemer  liveth,  and 
that  he  shall  stand  at  the  latter  day  upon  the  earth ; 
and  ...  in  my  flesh  shall  I  see  Eloah."  The  word 
Goel,  translated  Redeemer,  is  employed  with  the  same 
reference  in  the  following  among  other  passages  :  "  Me- 
lach the  Messenger,  which  redeemed  me  from  all  evil." 
Gen.  xlviii.  "Let  the  words  of  my  mouth,  and  the 
meditation  of  my  heart,  be  acceptable  in  thy  sight,  0 
Jehovah,  my  strength  and  my  Redeemer"  Ps.  xix. 
"  And  they  remembered  that  Elohim  was  their  rock, 
and  El,  their  Redeemer?  Ps.  lxxviii.  "  Thus  saith 
Jehovah  your  Redeemer,  and  the  Holy  One  of  Israel." 
Isa.  xliii.  14.  "Thus  saith  Jehovah,  the  King  of  Israel, 
and  his  Redeemer,  Jehovah  Zebaoth."  Ibid.  xiiv.  6. 
"Thus  saith  Jehovah  thy  Redeemer,  and  he  that  formed, 
thee,  I  am  Jehovah  that  maketh  all  things,  that  stretch- 
eth  forth  the  heavens  alone,"  &c.     Isa.  xliv.  24.     "All 


IN    MOSES   AXD   THE    PROPHETS.  91 

flesh  shall  know  that  I  Jehovah  am  thy  Saviour,  and 
thy  Redeemer,  the  Mighty'  One  of  Jacob."     Isa.  xlix.  26. 

The  original  word,  as  a  verb,  signifies  to  redeem,  to 
ransom;  and  as  a  noun,  a  kinsman,  blood  relation,  one 
having  a  right,  or  to  whom  it  pertained,  to  redeem ;  re- 
deemer, kinsman-redeemer.  Hence,  when  employed  as 
in  the  passages  above  cited,  it  includes  a  reference  to  the 
complex  person  of  Christ,  and  to  Eloah  in  human  nature, 
as  spoken  of  prospectively  by  Job. 

At  the  close  of  his  appointed  trial,  when  the  integrity 
of  Job  had  been  vindicated,  and  the  imputations  and 
predictions  of  the  adversary  confuted,  a  different  and 
more  glorious  manifestation  of  Jehovah  was  made  to 
him,  a  manifestation  adapted  and  designed — like  that  to 
Ezekiel,  chap,  i.,  in  the  likeness  of  a  man  on  a  throne 
in  the  midst  of  fire  and  cloud,  moving  as  in  a  whirlwind, 
and  like  that  to  Isaiah,  chap,  vi.,  and  that  to  the  disci- 
ples on  the  holy  mount — to  impart  to  him  new  and  more 
exalted  apprehensions  of  the  perfections,  prerogatives, 
and  works  of  Jehovah  ;  to  fit  the  humbled  and  penitent 
beholder  for  the  gifts  and  honors  he  A\*as  to  receive,  the 
duties  he  was  to  perform,  and  the  conspicuous  station  he 
was  to  occupy  as  one  whose  righteousness  had  been  pub- 
licly tried  and  divinely  attested.  "  Jehovah  answered 
Job  out  of  the  ii-'li  irlwind,  and  said,  Where  wast  thou  when 
I  laid  the  foundations  of  the  earth?"  &c. ;  adding  a  pro- 
longed detail  of  his  works  of  creation  and  providence, 
and  contrasting  the  ignorance  and  nothingness  of  man 
with  the  operations  of  his  wisdom  and  power.  Job  an- 
swered :  "  Behold,  I  am  vile,  what  shall  I  answer  thee  ? 
I  will  lay  my  hand  upon  my  mouth."  He  confesses  his 
sinfulness,  the  ignorance  and  errors  which  had  marked 
his  replies  to  his  friends,  and  adds :  "I  have  heard  of 
thee  by  the  hearing  of  the  ear,  but  now  mine  eye  seeth 


92  THE   MESSIAH 

thee.  Wherefore  I  abhor  myself,  and  repent  in  dust  and 
ashes."  He  saw  him  in  that  ineffable  and,  to  mortals, 
all  but  insupportable  splendor  of  glory,  which  caused 
such  an  impression  of  his  deit}^  and  his  holiness,  as  in 
contrast  to  make  him  conscious  of  his  own  vileness  as 
a  sinner,  and  induce  in  him  the  utmost  self-abasement ; 
as  in  the  parallel  instance  of  Ezekiel,  it  is  said  that  "he 
fell  upon  his  face ;"  and  in  that  of  Isaiah,  that  he  ex- 
claimed, on  seeing  Adonai  Jehovah  Zebaoth,  "Woe  is 
me!  for  I  am  undone,  because  I  am  a  man  of  unclean 
lips ;"  and  of  Daniel,  in  an  analogous  instance  of  his 
vision  of  the  same  glorified  Person  in  the  likeness  of 
man,  chap,  x.,  that  he  fell  with  his  face  to  the  ground, 
that  there  remained  no  strength  in  him,  that  his  comeli- 
ness was  turned  into  corruption.  So  at  the  Transfigura- 
tion on  the  mount,  the  disciples  fell  on  their  faces  and 
were  sore  afraid.  Paul,  on  witnessing  a  like  personal 
manifestation,  fell  to  the  earth  ;  and  John,  in  Patmos, 
seeing  that  glorified  Person,  fell  at  his  feet  -as  dead. 

There  was  prevalent,  at  a  very  early  period,  a  senti- 
ment that  to  see  God  would  occasion  or  be  followed  by 
the  death  of  the  beholder ;  which  probably  arose,  not 
from  simple  appearances  in  the  likeness  of  man,  on  occa- 
sions which  called  for  no  exhibitions  of  Divine  majesty 
and  glory,  but  from  manifestations  of  overpowering, 
insupportable  radiance,  comparable  only  to  that  of  light- 
ning, or  that  of  the  unclouded  sun.  Such  a  manifesta- 
tion we  may  well  suppose  to  have  been  made  on  the 
expulsion  of  Adam  from  Eden,  in  conjunction  with  the 
cherubic  forms,  as  in  repeated  instances  afterwards.  It 
was  demanded  by  the  occasion  and  the  end  to  be  accom- 
plished. There  were  sword-like  flames,  or  lightnings,, 
as  when  Moses  brought  forth  the  people  out  of  the  camp 
to  meet  with  (the)  Elohim,  when  he  descended  on  mount 


IN   MOSES   AND   THE   PROPHETS.  93 

Sinai ;  and  they,  terrified  by  the  lightnings,  said,  "  Let 
not  Blohim  speak  with  us,  lest  we  die  ;"  and  as  in  the 
vision  of  Ezekiel,  "out  of  the  fire  went  forth  lightning." 
So  when  the  seventy  elders  ascended  mount  Sinai  with 
Moses,  '•'  and  saw  the  Elohe  of  Israel,  the  sight  of  the 
glory  of  Jehovah  was  like  devouring  fire." 

The  sentiment  or  apprehension  above  referred  to  is 
indicated  by  Jacob,  after  wrestling  with  the  Messenger 
Jehovah:  "I  have  seen  Elohim  face  to  face,  and  my 
life  is  preserved."  Also  in  the  words  addressed  to  Gideon 
after  he -had  exclaimed,  "Alas,  0  Adonai  Jehovah!  for 
because  I  have  seen  the  Messenger  Jehovah  face  to  face. 
And  Jehovah  said  unto  him,  Fear  not,  thou  shalt  not 
die."  And,  "  Manoah  said  unto  his  wife,  We  shall  surely 
die,  because  we  have  seen  Elohim."  Such  an  inference 
is  very  likely  to  have  been  drawn  from  the  declaration 
of  Jehovah  to  Moses,  Exod.  xxxiii.  20 :  "  Thou  canst 
not  see  my  face :  for  there  shall  no  man  see  me  and  live ;" 
that  is,  see  me  unveiled  by  the  human  form,  or  by  a  dark 
or  luminous  cloud-like  envelope,  as  in  the  burning  bush, 
on  mount  Sinai,  and  in  the  tabernacle  ;  for  in  these 
modes  of  appearance  Moses  had  repeatedly  seen  him, 
and  in  the  chapter  above  referred  to,  vs.  9,  we  read  that, 
"As  Moses  entered  into  the  tabernacle,  the  cloudy  pillar 
descended  and  stood  at  the  door  of  the  tabernacle ;  and 
Jehovah  spake  unto  Moses  face  to  face,  as  a  man  speaketh 
unto  his  friend."  But,  owing  to  the  defection  of  Aaron 
and  the  people  in  making  and  worshipping  a  molten 
image,  he  had,  to  the  consternation  of  Moses,  intimated 
a  purpose  to  withdraw  from  among  them  ;  and  after  he 
had,  upon  the  earnest  entreaty  of  Moses,  signified  that 
his  presence  should  continue  with  them,  Moses,  in  his 
anxiety  and  perturbation,  and  perhaps  fearing  that  he 
would  not  visibly  manifest  himself,  (see  vs.  16,)  besought 


94  THE    MESSIAH 

that  lie  would  show  him  his  glory,  the  unclouded  glory 
of  his  person.  This  was  denied,  as  certain  to  be  fatal. 
But  as  far  as  he  could  endure  the  sight  and  live,  the 
request  was  granted.  "And  Jehovah  descended  in  the 
cloud  and  stood  with  him  there,  and  proclaimed  the  name 
of  Jehovah.  And  Moses  made  haste  and  bowed  his 
head  toward  the  earth,  and  worshipped." 


CHAPTER   X. 


Further  notice  of  Divine  Manifestations  to  Abraham  and  Jacob — Mys- 
teriousness  attending  the  Divine  Appearances — The  visible  Form 
always  like  that  of  Man. 

In  resuming  the  notice  of  expressions  and  statements 
in  the  history  of  the  patriarchs,  which  imply  the  local 
and  visible  presence  of  Jehovah,  the  first  to  be  referred 
to  is  in  Gen.  xii. :  "  Now  Jehovah  had  said  unto  Abram, 
Get  thee  out  of  thy  country,  and  from  thy  kindred,  and 
from  thy  father's  house,  unto  a  land  that  I  will  show  thee  ; 
and  I  will  make  of  thee  a  great  nation,  and  I  will  bless  thee, 
and  make  thy  name  great,  and  thou  shalt  be  a  blessing  ; 
and  in  thee" — thy  seed,  which  is  Christ,  Gal.  iii.  16 — • 
"  shall  all  the  familiesof  the  earth  be  blessed.  So  Abram 
departed,  as  Jehovah  had  spoken  unto  him.  And  Abram 
was  seventy  and  five  years  old  when  he  departed  out  of 
Haran  .  .  .  to  go  into  the  land  of  Canaan."  He  had,  some 
time  before  this,  migrated  with  Terah  his  father  from 
Ur  of  the  Chaldees  to  Haran,  as  is  related  chap.  xi.  31. 
That  removal,  by  which  probably  he  was  separated  from 
idolatrous  neighbors,  is  thus  referred  to,  chap.  xv.  7 : 


IN   MOSES   AND   THE    PROPHETS.  95 

"And  Jehovah  said  unto  him,  I  am  Jehovah  that  brought 
thee  out  of  Ur  of  the  Chaldees,  to  give  thee  this  land 
to  inherit  it."  And  again,  Nehemiah  ix.  7  :  "  Thou  art 
Jehovah  (the)  Elohim,  who  didst  choose  Abram,  and 
broughtest  him  forth  out  of  Ur  of  the  Chaldees."  From 
these  references  it  is  apparent  that  he  was  chosen,  called, 
and  received  immediate  personal  communications  from 
Jehovah,  whom  he  afterwards  saw  in  the  form  of  man, 
and  knew  as  El-Shadai,  Jehovah,  Adonai  Jehovah,  and 
Melach  Jehovah. 

Having  arrived  at  the  plain  of  Moreh,  in  the  land  of 
Canaan,  "  Jehovah  appeared  unto  Abram  and  said,  Unto 
thy  seed  will  I  give  this  land  :  and  there  builded  he  an 
altar  unto  Jehovah  who  appeared  unto  him."  Consider- 
ing the  reiterated  statement  in  this  brief  passage  that 
Jehovah  appeared  to  Abram  ;  that  the  occasion  was  that 
of  the  first  formal  announcement  of  the  great  promise  of 
that  dispensation  to  which  all  subsequent  revelations, 
covenants  and  promises  to  Abraham  relate;  that  on 
the  most  explicit  renewal  of  this  promise,  chap.  xxii. 
18,  Melach  Jehovah  is  the  speaker;  and  that  Abram 
signalized  the  occasion  of  this  first  announcement  by 
erecting  an  altar  to  Jehovah,  and  doubtless  offering  burnt 
offerings  thereon,  there  seems  sufficient  ground  to  con- 
clude that  this  was  an  instance  of  local  visible  presence_ 

Abram  next  removed  to  a  mount  east  of  Beth-El,  "  and 
there  he  builded  an  altar  unto  Jehovah,  and  called  upon 
the  name  of  Jehovah."  Chap.  xii.  8.  On  the  occurrence 
of  a  famine  he  went  down  to  Egypt,  whence  he  returned 
to  Beth-El,  "  unto  the  place  of  the  altar  which  he  had 
made  there  at  the  first,  and  there  Abram  called  on  the 
name  of  Jehovah."  xiii.  4.  These  passages  indicate  his 
custom  of  offering  typical  sacrifices,  and  calling  on  the 
name  of  Jehovah  at  the  place  set  apart,  for  the  time  being, 


96  THE   MESSIAH 

to  that  purpose ;  and  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  and 
its  analogy  to  other  recorded  instances  (as  Gen.  xxxii. 
13)  of  such  offerings  to  Melach  Jehovah,  there  is  no 
ground  to  suppose  that  the  same  official  Person  was  not 
the  immediate  object  of  homage  in  the  present  instance. 

So  of  the  ensuing  narrative,  Gen.  xiii.  14-18  :  "And 
Jehovah  said  unto  Abram,  after  that  Lot  was  separated 
from  him,  Lift  up  now  thine  eyes,  and  look  from  the 
place  where  thou  art,  northward  and  southward  and 
eastward  and  westward ;  for  all  the  land  which  thou  seest, 
to  thee  will  I  give  it,  and  to  thy  seed  for  ever."  "  Then 
Abram  removed  his  tent,  and  came  and  dwelt  in  the 
plain  of  Mamre,  and  built  there  an  altar  unto  Jehovah." 

In  chapter  xv.  we  read  that  "The  Word  of  (rather 
who  is)  Jehovah  came  unto  Abram  in  a  vision,  saying 
Fear  not,  Abram ;  I  am  thy  shield  and  thy  exceeding- 
great  reward.  And  Abram  said,  Adonai  Jehovah,  what 
wilt  thou  give  me,  &c.  And  behold,  the  Word  (who  is) 
Jehovah  came  unto  him,  saying,  This  shall  not  be  thine 
heir ;  .  .  .  and  He  brought  him  forth  abroad  and  said,  Look 
now  toward  heaven  and  tell  the  stars,  if  thou  be  able  to 
number  them ;  and  He  said  unto  him,  So  shall  thy  seed 
be.  And  he  believed  in  Jehovah,  and  He  counted  it  to 
him  for  righteousness.  And  he  said  unto  Him,  Adonai 
Jehovah,  whereby  shall  I  know  that  I  shall  inherit  it  ?" 
In  this  narrative  the  Personal  Word  appears  to  be  desig- 
nated by  a  term-  equivalent  to  Logos,  as  applied  in  the 
first  chapter  of  John,  namely,  Dabar,  importing  the  same 
as  the  Chaldee  term  Memra,  frequently  inserted  with  the 
same  personal  reference  by  the  Chaldee  paraphrasts.  The 
Dabar  (who  is)  Jehovah  came  unto  Abram,  saying,  .  .  . 
He  brought  him  forth  abroad,  and  said,  &c.  These  are  per- 
sonal acts,  not  to  be  affirmed  of  an  audible  voice.  They 
imply  the  local  presence  of  the  speaker,  whom  Abram 


IN   MOSES  AND   THE   PROPHETS.  97 

addresses  as  Adonai  Jehovah.  Throughout  the  chapter 
he  is  the  speaker.  Abram's  faith  in  him  as  Jehovah  is 
unto  righteousness.  In  this,  as  in  some  instances  here- 
after to  be  noticed,  the  sense  and  construction  of  the 
passage  seem  to  require  that  the  term  translated  Word 
should  be  considered  a  personal  designation,  having  the 
same  relation  to  the  term  Jehovah  as  Adon,  Adonai, 
and  Melach. 

On  the  occasion  of  changing  the  patriarch's  name  to 
Abraham,  and  that  of  his  wife  to  Sarah,  chap,  xvii., 
"  Jehovah  appeared  to  Abram,  and  said  unto  him,  I  am 
El  Shadai ;  walk  before  me,  and  be  thou  perfect.  .  .  . 
And  Abram  fell  on  his  face,  and  Elohim  talked  with 
him,"  vs.  1,  3  ;  and  vs.  19,  22 :  "  Elohim  said,  Sarah  thy 
wife  shall  bear  thee  a  son  indeed.  .  .  .  And  Elohim  went 
up  from  Abraham."  Here  the  phraseology  in  each  of  the 
clauses  quoted  implies  a  local  personal  presence  of  Je- 
hovah. That  it  was  a  visible  appearance  is  further  im- 
plied in  the  next  chapter,  where,  in  the  narrative  of  his 
appearance  in  the  likeness  of  man,  he  refers  to  this  prom- 
ise of  a  son  as  having  been  made  by  him,  vs.  10  ;  and 
to  remove  the  doubts  of  both  Abraham  and  Sarah,  he 
acids  :  "  Is  any  thing  too  hard  for  Jehovah  ?  At  the  time 
appointed  I  will  return  unto  thee,  according  to  the  time 
of  life,  and  Sarah  shall  have  a  son." 

Of  the  appearance  last  referred  to,  chap,  xviii.,  when, 
in  the  form  of  a  wayfaring  man,  he  partook  of  the  repast 
prepared  by  Abraham,  spoke  concerning  Sarah,  walked 
towards  Sodom,  disclosed  his  purpose  of  destroy  ing  that 
place,  and  heard  Abraham's  request  on  behalf  of  the 
righteous,  there  can  be  no  question  of  its  having  been 
local  and  visible.  It  is  noticeable  that  the  narrative  of 
this  manifestation  is  introduced  by  the  same  formula  as 
others  which  include  no  express  indications  of  his  visi- 

5 


98  THE    MESSIAH 

bility.  Thus,  vs.  1 :  "And  Jehovah  appeared  unto  Abra- 
ham in  the  plains  of  Mamre."  In  the  progress  of  the 
narrative,  the  Divine  visitant  is  called  a  man,  Jehovah, 
and  Adonai ;  and  at  its  close  it  is  said  that  "Jehovah 
went  his  way" — literally,  "  walked  away" — as  "  soon  as 
he  had  left  communing  with  Abraham,  and  Abraham 
returned  to  his  place."  In  the  next  chapter,' which  re- 
lates the  destruction  of  Sodom,  the  same  Person  is  called 
Jehovah  and  Elohim.  "Abraham  gat  up  early  in  the 
morning  to  the  place  where  he  stood  before  Jehovah11 — 
that  is,  before  the  visible  Person  in  the  likeness  of  man, 
to  whom  he  addressed  his  prayers  for  the  righteous. 
"And  it  came  to  pass  when  Elohim  destroyed  the  cities 
of  the  plain,  that  Elohim  remembered  Abraham." 

When  the  time  had  arrived  for  Jacob  to  withdraw  from 
Laban,  "  Jehovah  said  unto  him,  Keturn  unto  the  land 
of  thy  fathers."  Gen.  xxxi.  3.  Eeferring  to  this,  vs.  7, 
he  says  :  "  The  Elohe  of  my  father  hath  been  with  me." 
After  relating  to  his  family  something  of  the  treatment 
he  had  received  from  Laban,  and  of  the  special  favor  of 
Elohim  to  him,  he  recurs  to  the  command  above  quoted, 
vs.  11-13  :  "And  Melach  (the)  Elohim  spake  unto  me  in 
a  dream  and  said,  I  am  the  El  of  Beth-El,  where  thou 
anointedst  the  pillar,  and  where  thou  vowedst  a  vow  unto 
me.  Now  arise,  get  thee  out  from  this  land,  and  return 
unto  the  land  of  thy  kindred.  .  .  .  And  Kachel  and 
Leah  answered,  .  .  .  Now,  whatsoever  Elohim  hath  said 
unto  thee,  do."  The  statements  in  the  two  clauses  first 
above  cited  evidently  refer  to  the  same  occasion  as  those 
which  follow;  and  therefore  the  Elohe  of  his  father, 
who  had  been  with  him,  was  Melach,  the  Messenger 
Elohim  who  spoke  to  him,  vs.  11,  and  who  doubtless 
appeared  to  him  to  be  present,  in  a  form  with  which  he 
was  familiar.  This  is  further  implied  in  the  words  at  the 


IN   MOSES   AND  THE   PROPHETS.  99 

close  of  his  remonstrance  with  Laban,  vs.  42  :  "  Except 
the  Elohe  of  nry  father,  the  Elohe  of  Abraham,  and  the 
Fear  of  Isaac  had  been  with  me,  surely  thou  hadst  sent 
me  away  now  empty.  Elohim  hath  seen  my  affliction, 
and  the  labor  of  my  hands,  and  rebuked  thee  yester- 
night.'1 

The  familiarity  of  Jacob  with  the  visible  presence  of 
Jehovah  is  indicated  by  his  expression  when,  to  his  sur- 
prise and  joy,  Esau  met  him  with  a  kindness  and  cor- 
diality which  showed  that  he  no  longer  harbored  any 
ill-will  towards  him.  Jacob  urged  him  to  receive  his 
present,  and  said  :  "I  have  seen  thy  face,  as  though  it 
had  been  the  face  of  Elohim,  and  thou  wast  pleased  with 
me,"  chap,  xxxiii.  10  ;  implying  that  this  personal  inter- 
view and  manifestation  of  favor  produced  an  effect  upon 
his  feelings  resembling  that  of  visible  Divine  manifesta- 
tions, to  which  he  was  accustomed ;  a  signal  instance  of 
which  had  just  occurred,  chap,  xxxii.,  when  "he  saw 
Elohim  face  to  face." 

Doubtless  there  was  a  degree  of  mysteriousness  in- 
separable from  these  appearances  of  the  Divine  Person, 
arising,  however,  not  from  their  infrequency,  for  they 
seldom  seem  to  have  occasioned  surprise,  but  rather 
from  the  different  forms  of  manifestation,  the  different 
degrees  of  visibility;  a  consciousness  that  He  who  was 
sometimes  visibly  present  was,  when  unseen,  not  ab- 
sent ;  not  less  cognizant  of  their  thoughts  and  actions, 
nor  less  their  preserver  and  defender.  They  knew  that 
he  could,  at  pleasure,  render  himself  visible  in  the  sim- 
ple form  of  man,  in  a  vision,  in  a  dense  or  a  luminous 
cloud,  in  the  colors  of  the  precious  gems  and  minerals, 
and  in  the  insupportable  splendors  of  the  solar  and  elec- 
tric fires.  They  knew  that  he  was  of  purer  eyes  than 
to  behold  iniquity  with  any  allowance,  and  were  con- 


100  THE   MESSIAH 

scions  of  their  defilement  and  ill-desert.  Their  faith 
reposed  on  him,  unseen  as  well  as  manifest ;  and  when 
he  was  locally  present  to  their  senses,  it  was  necessary 
to  exclude  or  modify  their  accustomed  discrimination 
between  spiritual  and  physical,  invisible  and  visible 
conditions  and  modes  of  being. 

There  must  have  been,  besides  a  familiarity  with  the 
fact  of  his  visible  appearances,  a  well-established  asso- 
ciation of  authorized  and  intelligent  convictions  in  their 
minds  respecting  his  official  person  and  character,  the 
nature  of  his  agency,  his  mediatorial  relations,  which 
assumed  a  covenant  or  stipulated  relationship  of  man 
with  the  Deity  in  his  Person,  and  harmonized  the  Divine 
in  his  manifestations  with  the  human  in  his  visible  form ; 
all  which  necessarily  involved  more  or  less  of  the  mys- 
terious and  unknown.  Yet  they  well  understood  the 
tokens  which  identified  him,  and,  if  not  exhibited  in  the 
first  moments  of  his  appearance,  recognized  them  as  soon 
as  giveji,  and  promptly  rendered  him  the  homage,  ad- 
dressed him  by  the  titles,  and  ascribed  to  him  the  prero- 
gatives and  works  of  the  Creator,  Proprietor,  Ruler  and 
Redeemer  of  the  world. 

But  he  was  not  at  all  times  visible.  The  patriarchs 
lived  by  faith  as  well  for  the  most  part  of  their  days 
and  years,  perhaps,  with  respect  to  him  personally,  as 
with  respect  to  the  future  issues  of  his  interpositions  and 
administration.  They  could  not  see  him  at  their  plea- 
sure, even  when  his  words  or  acts  indicated  that  he  was 
locally  near  them.  "Lo,  he  goeth  by  me,"  saith  Job, 
"  and  I  see  him  not :  he  passeth  on,  also,  but  I  perceive 
him  not.  Behold,  I  go  forward,  but  he  is  not  there ;  and 
backward,  but  I  cannot  perceive  him  :  on  the  left  hand, 
where  be  doth  work,  but  I  cannot  behold  him  ;  he  hideth 
himself  on  the  right  hand,  that  I  cannot  see  him ;  but  he 


IN   MOSES  AND   THE    PROPHETS.  101 

knowetk  the  way  that  I  take :  when  he  hath  tried  me,  I 
shall  come  forth  as  gold." 

It  would  seem  to  have  been  by  an  effect  wrought  in 
them,  both  when  awake  and  when  asleep,  that  he,  and 
also  that  created  spiritual  beings,  when  locally  present, 
became  visible  or  manifest  to  their  consciousness.  In 
several  instances  the  eyes  of  the  beholders  are  said  to 
be  opened,  not  to  behold  objects  ordinarily  visible,  but 
objects  which,  though  present,  it  was  not,  without  that 
operation,  their  privilege  to  see.  Thus,  in  the  narra- 
tive of  Balaam,  "the  Messenger  Jehovah  stood  in  the 
way  as  an  adversary  against  him,"  and  repeatedly 
checked  his  progress,  while  to  him  invisible.  At  length, 
"Jehovah  opened  the  eyes  of  Balaam,  and  he  saw  the 
Messenger  Jehovah  standing  in  the  way,  and  his  sword 
drawn  in  his  hand,"  &c.  So  in  the  case  of  the  servant 
of  Elisha :  "Jehovah  opened  the  eyes  of  the  young  man, 
and  he  saw,  and  behold,  the  mountain  was  full  of  horses 
and  chariots  of  fire,  round  about  Elisha."  And  of  the 
disciples  on  the  way  to  Emmaus  in  company  with  the 
risen  Saviour,  it  is  said,  "their  eyes  were  holden  that 
they  should  not  know  him;"  and  at  length  "  their  eyes 
were  opened,  and  they  knew  him,  and  he  vanished  out 
of  their  sight." 

Considering  that  in  all  ages  and  countries  the  minds 
of  men  have  been  startled  and  thrown  off  their  balance 
by  the  supposed  apparition  of  spirits,  real  or  imaginary, 
angelic  or  human,  from  the  invisible  world,  whether  in 
material  or  in  impalpable  forms,  and  have  regarded 
them  as  inscrutably  mysterious  and  appalling,  the  fact 
that  such  impressions  of  surprise  and  dread  were  not 
commonly  occasioned,  or  are  so  slightly  indicated,  when 
the  Messenger  Jehovah  was  unexpectedly  and  visibly 
recognized,  strongly  implies  that  the  beholders  were 


102  THE   MESSIAH 

familiar  not  onby  with  the  reality  and  the  modes  of  his 
appearance,  but  with  his  official  Person,  character  and 
relations. 

The  statements  and  intimations  contained  in  the  Holy 
Scriptures  concerning  the  celestial  beings  comprehen- 
sively called  angels,  warrant  the  conclusion,  that  the 
faculties  by  which  they  perceive  external  objects  are 
analogous  to  those  of  man.  They  see  and  hear,  and  are 
seen  and  heard,  in  a  way  similar  to  that  of  the  bodied 
human  race.  They  have  the  faculty  of  becoming  visible 
to  men,  and  when  visible,  they  have,  in  all  recorded 
instances,  the  human  form.  It  is  obvious  that,  in  order 
to  be  discernible  by  the  human  eye,  they  must  have  a 
specific  form;  and  accordingly,  both  with  reference  to 
the  Messenger  who  is  Jehovah,  and  to  the  created 
angels,  such  is  the  case  in  each  and  every  instance  of 
visibility.  Thus  in  the  case  of  the  three  who,  in  the 
form  of  men,  appeared  to  Abraham,  prior  to  the  destruc- 
tion of  Sodom.  In  form,  the  three  appeared  alike,  and 
the  two  were  distinguished  from  the  One  only  by  the 
circumstances  which  ensued. 

To  created  angels  appearing  visibly  in  this  manner, 
it  is  clear  that  the  same  laws  of  optics  and  acoustics  are 
available  as  to  men.  only  in  a  far  higher  degree.  That 
they  saw  objects  which  are  naturally  visible  to  men  as 
clearly  as  men  see  them,  and  heard  sounds  and  voices 
audible  to  them  as*distinctly  as  they,  is  evident  from 
every  narrative  in  which  such  things  are  mentioned  or 
implied.  But  their  power  of  visual  and  auricular  per- 
ion  is  not  restricted  as  in  the  human  race.  From 
the  nature  of  the  organism  in  which  the  spirit  of  man 
resides,  his  natural  power  in  these  relations  is  very 
limited.  In  the  instance  of  vision,  however,  his  natural 
power  may,  in  conformity  with  the  ordinary  laws  of 


TS   MOSES  AXD   THE   PROPHETS.  103 

vision,  be,  by  the  appliances  of  art,  immeasurably  in- 
creased. Telescopes  and  microscopes  are  but  additions 
to  the  natural  organ.  In  angels  that  organ  may  natur- 
ally as  far  transcend  the  optical  power  of  human  skill 
and  science,  as  the  latter  exceeds  the  unaided  power  of 
vision  in  man.  Moreover,  to  spirits  inhabiting  angelic 
organisms,  things  which  circumscribe  human  vision 
probably  constitute  no  obstructions.  Material  bodies 
which  to  the  human  eye  are  opaque,  may  to  them  be  as 
transparent  as  crystal  or  the  atmosphere  to  man.  The 
degree  of  light  necessary  to  their  vision  of  objects  may 
be  as  nothing  compared  with  that  required  by  the 
human  eye  ;  and  distance,  so  wonderfully  obviated  by 
the  effect  of  optical  instruments,  may  be,  and  un- 
doubtedly is,  proportionally,  as  nothing  to  them. 

Now,  since  those  beings  have  a  distinct,  personal, 
visible  form — visible  to  the  unaided  human  eye  on  the 
occasion  of  their  appearance  in  the  earlier  and  at  the 
opening  of  the  present  dispensation,,  as  at  the  annuncia- 
tion and  the  resurrection — and  since  their  visual  per- 
ceptions correspond  to  our  law  of  optics,  it  is  to  be  in- 
ferred that  they  see  each  other  and  all  external  objects 
in  the  same  way  as  they  saw  men :  and  doubtless  the 
like,  both  with  respect  to  the  mode  and  the  degree  or 
extent  of  perception,  may  be  safely  inferred  in  relation 
to  their  hearing  and  feeling. 

"Whatever  else  may  be  true  of  the  organisms  in  which 
they  dwell,  enough  is  revealed  to  justify  the  conclusion, 
that,  being  in  their  attributes  as  spirits  like  the  spirits 
of  men,  they  exercise  their  faculties  through  the  instru- 
mentality of  those  organisms  in  the  same  way  as  men 
through  theirs.  Thus  it  is  certain  that  by  means  of 
those  visible  forms  they  exercise  physical  power.  The 
two  angels  who  came  in  the  form  of  men  to  Lot  in 


104  THE   MESSIAH 

Sodom,  "put  forth  their  hands  and  putted  Lot  into  the 
house  to  them,  and  shut  to  the  door.  And  the  men  said 
unto  Lot,  Hast  thou  here  any  besides  ?  .  .  .  And  while 
he  lingered,  the  men  laid  hold  upon  his  hand,  .  .  .  and 
they  brought  him  forth  and  set  him  without  the  city." 
Gen.  xix. 

The  established  form,  then,  in  which,  from  the  begin- 
ning, spiritual  beings  have  visibly  appeared,  was  con- 
formable to  that  assigned  to  the  human  race ;  insomuch 
that  such  beings  were  never  otherwise  discernible  to 
the  human  eye.  That  form  was  assumed,  with  man's 
nature,  by  the  Messiah  when  he  became  incarnate ;  and 
there  is  therefore  nothing  incongruous  or  inherently 
improbable  in  the  supposition  of  his  having  appeared 
visibly  in  the  likeness  of  that  form  at  earlier  periods,  as 
the  Scriptures  clearly  teach.  It  is  not  more  unlikely 
that  in  those  earlier  appearances,  on  occasions  when  no 
Divine  effulgence  was  exhibited,  his  visible  appearance 
should  be  like  that  of  angelic  messengers,  than  that 
theirs  should  be  like  that  of  man,  or  that  his  should  be 
so  when  literally  incarnate.  And  if  the  Deity  has  ever 
appeared  visibly  to  man,  it  was  indubitably  to  the 
patriarchs  and  prophets  as  the  Messiah,  under  the  de- 
signations and  on  the  occasions  heretofore  referred  to, 
and 'publicly  in  Judea  at  the  period  of  his  literal  incar- 
nation. 

Consistently  with  these  views,  the  Scriptures,  in 
speaking  of  him  in  the  various  aspects  and  relations  in 
which  he  appeared,  employ  terms  which  are  appropriate 
to  one  with  attributes  and  modes  of  visible  action  like 
those  of  man ;  of  his  head,  nice,  eyes,  hands,  feet ;  of  his 
sitting  down,  rising  up,  standing,  walking,  working, 
resting,  hearing,  speaking,  and  the  like.  As  leader  and 
defender  of  his  people,  "Jehovah  is  a  man  [is  like  a 


m  MOSES  AND  THE   PROPHETS.  105 

man]  of  war;  Jehovah  is  his  name."  Exod.  xv.  3. 
"And  Jehovah  went  [walked]  his  way,  as  soon  as  he 
had  left  communing  with  Abraham."  Gren.  xviii.  33. 
"Jehovah  looked  unto  the  host  of  the  Egyptians  through 
the  pillar  of  fire  and  of  the  cloud."  Exod.  xiv.  Moses 
and  the  elders  ascended  mount  Sinai,  "  and  they  saw  the 
Elohe  of  Israel ;  and  there  was  under  his  feet  as  it  were 
a  paved  work  of  sapphire ;  .  .  .  and  upon  the  nobles 
(Moses  and  the  elders)  he  laid  not  his  hand:  .  .  .  they 
saw  the  Elohim,  and  did  eat  and  drink."  Exod.  xxiv. 
"And  Jehovah  descended  in  the  cloud  and  stood  with 
Moses,  and  proclaimed  the  name  of  Jehovah.  And 
Jehovah  jiassed  by  before  him,  and  proclaimed,  Jehovah, 
El,  merciful  and  gracious.  And  Moses  said,  If  now  I 
have  found  grace  in  thy  sight,  O  Adonai,  let  Adonai, 
I  pray  thee,  go  amongst  us,  and  pardon  our  iniquity  and 
our  sin."  Exod.  xxxiv.  "  Melach  Jehovah  stood  in  the 
way  for  an  adversary  against  Balaam.  .  .  .  Jehovah 
opened  the  eves  of  Balaam^  and  he  saw  Melach  Jehovah 
standing  in  the  way,  and  his  sword  drawn  in  his  hand." 
Numb,  xxiii.  "And  Joshua  looked,  and  behold,  there 
stood  a  man  over  against  him  with  his  sword  drawn  in  his 
hand.  .  .  .  And  he  said,  As  captain  of  the  host  of  Jeho- 
vah am  I  now  come.  .  .  .  And  the  captain  of  the  host 
of  Jehovah  said  unto  Joshua,  Loose  thy  shoe  from  off 
thy  foot,  for  the  place  whereon  thou  stanclest  is  hoty." 
Josh.  v.  "  Melach  Jehovah  came  up  from  Gilgal  [the 
place  where  the  ark,  the  ark  of  the  Adon  of  all  the 
earth,  then  rested]  to  Bochim,  and  said,  I  made  you  to 
go  up  out  of  Egypt,  and  have  brought  you  into  the 
land  which  /  gave  unto  your  fathers,  and  /  said,  I  will 
never  break  my  covenant  with  you."  Judges  ii.  "  Thus 
saith  Jehovah,  Elohe  of  Israel,  I  brought  you  up  from 
Egypt,  and  I  said  unto  you,  I  am  Jehovah  your  Elohe." 
5* 


106  THE   MESSIAH 

"And  Melaeh  Jehovah  came  and  sat  under  an  oak,  and 
said  unto  Gideon,  Jehovah  is  with  thee.  And  Melaeh 
the  Elohim  said  unto  him,  Take  the  flesh  and  the  un- 
leavened cakes  and  lay  them  upon  this  rook.  And 
Melaeh  Jehovah  put  forth  the  end  of  the  staff  that  was 
in  his  hand,  and  touched  the  flesh  and  the  unleavened 
cakes."  Judges  v.  "The  eye  of  Jehovah  is  upon  them 
that  fear  him."  Ps.  xxxiii.  18.  "The  eyes  of  Jehovah 
thy  Elohe  are  always  upon  it  [the  land]."  Deut.  xi. 
"The  eyes  of  Jehovah  are  upon  the  righteous,  and  his 
ears  are  open  unto  their  cry.  The  face  of  Jehovah  is 
against  them  that  do  evil.  Melaeh  Jehovah  encampeth 
round  about  them  that  fear  him,  and  delivereth  them. 
They  cry,  and  Jehovah  heareth  them."  Ps.  xxxiv.  "  Me- 
laeh Jehovah  touched  Elijah,  and  said,  Arise  and  eat." 
1  Kings  xix. 

The  preceding  observations  concerning  the  faculties 
of  angels  suggest  the  relation  to  their  acquisition  of 
knowledge  of  the  visible  persons,  objects  and  events 
within  their  view  on  earth,  and  the  congruity  of  that 
relation  with  the  visibility  of  the  God-man,  Messiah, 
Mediator,  Ruler,  and  Revealer. 

Suppose  the  celestial  hosts,  with  the  visual  powers 
and  the  freedom  from  the  conditions  of  distance  above 
intimated,  from  the  moment  of  their  creation  in  the  full 
maturity  of  their  faculties  and  of  their  endowments,  ex- 
cept in  respect  to  the  knowledge  to  be  derived  from  the 
evolution  and  progress  of  events,  to  have  seen  each 
other,  and  the  visible  objects  of  their  own  and  other 
spheres ;  to  have  seen,  among  the  earliest  of  events,  the 
rebellion  and  dejection  from  their  ranks  of  an  arch- 
angel, with  numerous  adherents,  followed  by  the  apos- 
tasy and  degradation  of  the  progenitors  of  the  human 
race;  and,  in  connection  therewith,  to  have  seen  the 


IN   MOSES   AJSD   THE   PROPHETS.  107 

Personal  Word  walking  in  Eden,  to  have  heard  his  voice, 
and  thenceforth  to  have  observed  the  acts  and  events 
connected  with  our  race.  It  is  plain  that  if  they  see  and 
hear  in  conformity  with  the  same  laws  as  men,  and  ac- 
quire knowledge  by  so  seeing  and  hearing,  then  it  was 
necessary  to  them,  as  well  as  to  man,  that  all  the  agents 
in  the  scene  should  be  visible,  and  that  their  voices 
should  be  audible. 

The  object,  on  the  occasions  referred  to,  was  to  in- 
struct and  influence,  by  visible  and  tangible  realities 
presented  to  the  senses.  To  suppose  some  of  the  agents 
and  acts  to  have  been  what  they  are  declared  to  be,  and 
others  to  have  been  illusions,  unreal,  imaginary,  is  to 
defeat  the  object  of  them,  divest  them  of  all  certainty, 
and  justify  the  same  inference  with  respect  to  the  human 
as  to  the  celestial  agents.  In  numerous  instances  it  is 
evident  that  the  power  of  vision  in  men  was  so  enlarged, 
that  they  beheld  objects  not  ordinarily  visible  to  them. 
Had  that  augmented  power  continued,  those  objects 
would  have  continued  to  be  visible,  and  so  far  from 
being  less,  would  have  been  more  free  from  illusion  and 
uncertainty;  and  it  is  absurd,  and  contrary  to  all  ana- 
logy, to  suppose  that  it  did  not  render  their  vision  as 
certain,  and  their  inference  from  it  as  just,  in  respect  to 
every  person  and  object  apprehended  by  it,  as  in  respect 
to  any  one  of  them.  And  if,  as  in  the  case  of  the  three 
who  appeared  to  Abraham,  and  in  other  cases,  they  did 
not  see  the  persons  in  the  likeness  of  men  whom  they 
are  declared  to  have  seen,  then  we  have  no  ground  of 
certainty  that  they  themselves  were  present,  or  acted 
the  parts  ascribed  to  them. 

It  is  observed  above  that  in  every  instance  of  the  per- 
sonal manifestation  of  the  Messenger  Jehovah  under  the 
ancient  dispensations,  he  was  distinctly  recognized  in 


108  THE    MESSIAH 

the  likeness  of  man.  On  many  occasions  he  is  expressly 
called  a  man  ;  and  in  various  instances  acts  peculiar  to 
a  man  are  ascribed  to  him.  Thus,  at  his  appearance  to 
Abraham  in  the  plain  of  Mamre,  to  Jacob  at  Peni-El,  to 
Joshua,  to  Manoah,  to  Ezekiel,  to  Daniel,  to  Amos,  and 
to  Zechariah,  he  is  expressly  called  a  man ;  in  Eden 
and  in  the  plain  of  Mamre  he  walked  and  spoke  as  a 
man ;  to  Moses  he  spake  face  to  face,  as  a  man  speaketh 
with  his  friend,  and  of  him  it  was  said,  "  the  similitude 
of  Jehovah  shall  he  behold ;"  to  Balaam,  Joshua,  and 
David,  he  appeared  with  a  drawn  sword  in  his  hand ; 
when  accepting  the  offering  of  Gideon,  he  put  forth  the 
staff  that  was  in  his  hand,  and  touched  the  sacrifice ;  he 
"touched  Elijah,  and  said,  Arise  and  eat."  Again,  in 
the  instances  in  which  it  is  said  that  he  appeared  to 
Abraham  and  others,  without  specifying  that  his  person 
was  visible,  and  in  those  in  which  it  is  said  that  he 
came,  or  that  the  "Word  of  the  Lord  came,  to  Abraham, 
Moses,  Samuel,  David,  and  the  prophets,  the  things  said 
and  done  are,  as  to  matter  and  manner,  in  respect  to 
the  persons  addressed  or  spoken  of,  reference  to  circum- 
stances of  time  and  place,  particularity  of  directions  a  id 
details,  similar  to  those  in  which  he  visibly  appeared  as 
man. 

In  the  minds  of  the  patriarchs  and  prophets,  there- 
fore, the  human  likeness  in  which  he  visibly  appeared 
was  intimately  and  familiarly  associated  with  his  per- 
son. When  they  thought  of  him,  they  thought  of  him 
in  that  form ;  and  accordingly  his  visible  appearance  in 
that  form  occasioned  little  or  no  surprise.  They  knew, 
it  may  well  be  believed,  from  and  after  the  first  appear- 
ance or  announcement  of  the  Messiah  in  Eden,  that 
human  nature  and  the  human  form  were  appointed  and 
essential  conditions  of  his  complex  official  person  and 


IN   MOSES  AND  THE  PROPHETS.  109 

his  sacerdotal  work.  Every  typical  sacrifice,  the  piacu- 
lar  shedding  of  blood,  the  altar  typifying  the  cross,  the 
burnt  offering,  the  paschal  lamb,  every  act  of  worship 
founded  on  the  revealed  doctrine  of  mediation,  implied 
this  distinctive  apprehension  of  his  person  as  Mediator. 
To  suppose  that  patriarchs  and  prophets  to  whom  he 
appeared  in  this  manner,  and  whom  he  inspired  to  teach 
others,  did  not  know  and  recognize  him  in  his  true 
character,  is  not  less  derogatory  to  him  than  to  them; 
and  to  suppose  that  those  who  earliest  offered  typical 
sacrifices  did  not  as  truly  and  adequately  understand 
what  belonged  to  his  personal  and  official  character  as 
those  who  succeeded,  is  to  nullify  their  worship  and 
their  faith,  and  to  treat  the  system  as  a  device  of  sinful 
and  ignorant  men,  rather  than  as  divinely  revealed  and 
sanctioned. 

But  the  Divine  Mediator  being  thus  clearly  and 
familiarly  known  from  the  first  beginning  of  the  race, 
as  to  the  constitution  of  his  complex  official  person,  his 
delegated  character,  his  sacerdotal  and  mediatory  work ; 
this  knowledge  being  common  to  all  true  worshippers, 
and  being  illustrated  and  confirmed  to  others  by  local 
visible  appearances  of  the  Personal  Word,  by  oral  in- 
structions from  inspired  men,  and  by  the  external  in- 
stitutions, rites  and  forms  of  the  true  worship;  it  is 
obvious  how,  and  with  what  facility,  the  adverse  party, 
the  worshippers  of  Baal  after  the  deluge,  obtained  their 
antagonist  counterfeit  notions  of  the  incarnation  of  their 
rival  god,  and  afterwards  of  other  spiritual  beings  and 
disembodied  intelligences ;  of  a  shekina  of  visible  glory 
as  the  residence  or  tabernacle  of  Baal ;  of  mediation, 
oracular  responses,  altars,  sacrifices,  incense,  &c.  To 
suppose  that  any  one  of  these  things  was  originally  con- 
ceived and  invented  by  the  natural  reason  of  man,  is  at 


110  THE   MESSIAH 

once  to  yield  the  question  between  revealed  religion 
and  the  competency  of  fallen  man  to  devise  one  which 
should  obtain  the  undivided  suffrage  of  nine  tenths  of 
the  human  race  from  age  to  age.  The  utter  absurdity 
of  such  a  supposition  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  all  the. 
different  nations  and  tribes  of  idolaters  have,  from  the 
earliest  records  and  traditions  of  their  history,  held 
essentially  the  same  ideas  upon  these  and  kindred  sub- 
jects. In  the  history  of  some  countries,  indeed,  as  in 
that  of  India,  Thibet  and  China,  the  notion  of  the  in- 
carnation, and  of  repeated  incarnations,  of  their  false 
god  is  more  conspicuous  than  in  that  of  others.  But 
the  notion  that  the  shedding  of  blood  would  procure 
the  remission  of  sin,  that  the  piacular  sacrifices  must  be 
offered  on  an  altar  and  burnt  with  fire,  that  the  first- 
lings of  the  flock  must  be  sacrificed,  and  that  incense 
must  be  burned  by  consecrated  priests,  has  prevailed 
among  all  pagan  nations  and  tribes,  with  or  without 
letters,  in  all  climates,  and  in  all  ages ;  and  if  not  de- 
rived from  the  descendants  of  Noah  at  the  dispersion, 
we  must,  by  ascribing  the  invention  to  each  distinct 
community  for  itself,  imagine  a  greater  miracle  than 
that  of  the  inspiration  of  true  prophets. 

The  revolt  of  the  arch-apostate,  with  his  angels  and 
the  head  of  the  human  race,  was  an  open  renunciation 
of  allegiance  to  Jehovah  as  Creator,  Lawgiver  and 
Euler,  from  which  a  total  and  ceaseless  alienation  and 
opposition  ensued,  which,  but  for  his  redemptive  work, 
would  have  subverted  and  defeated  his  design  as  Creator. 
To  counteract  and  overcome  that  revolt  required  his 
humiliation  unto  death.  Prior  to  that  event,  his  op- 
posers  denied  his  prerogatives  and  rights  as  Creator, 
Lawgiver  and  Ruler,  and  arrogated  them  for  creatures. 
The  antagonist  system  of  rivalship  and  homage  was  ex- 


IN   MOSES   AND   THE   PROPHETS.  Ill 

hibited  in  the  face  of  the  universe  in  the  forms  of  poli- 
tical tyranny  and  idolatry.  To  assert  and  exhibit  to 
the  whole  universe  his  claims,  after  his  humiliation,  he 
rose  from  the  grave,  ascended  on  high,  was  invested 
with  all  power  in  heaven  and  earth,  and  in  his  glorified 
and  visible  person  as  God-man  was  recognized  as  sway- 
ing the  sceptre  of  universal  empire. 

His  claims  and  prerogatives  as  Creator,  Upholder  and 
Ruler  being  thus  manifested  and  established,  and  the 
efficacy  of  his  vicarious  death  being  at  the  same  time 
demonstrated  by  the  conversion  and  salvation  of  multi- 
tudes from  age  to  age,  he  will  at  length  return  to  the 
earth  to  consummate  his  victory  over  all  adversaries,  to 
remove  the  curse  and  restore  the  earth  to  its  primeval 
state,  assume  his  visible  regal  sway,  and  establish  his 
everlasting  kingdom. 

The  union,  as  appointed  and  fixed  in  the  order  of 
events,  of  the  Divine  and  human  natures  in  the  Person 
of  the  God-man,  was  a  primary  condition  in  the  great 
scheme  of  Divine  works  and  manifestations.  That 
union  is,  accordingly,  implied  in  all  the  designations, 
whether  prophetic  or  otherwise,  of  the  Anointed,  or 
official  Person;  the  Logos,  who  was  in  the  beginning; 
the  Christ,  who  was  before  all  things.  On  the  basis  of 
this  union  of  the  second  Person  of  the  Godhead  with 
human  nature,  rendering  him  capable  of  subordinate 
relations  and  agencies,  the  works  of  creation,  provi- 
dence and  grace  were  delegated  to  him  by  the  Father. 

Such  a  provision  in  the  constitution  of  his  official 
person,  in  order  to  the  subordinate  relations,  delegated 
agencies,  and  visible  manifestations,  involved  in  his 
undertaking,  would  seem  manifestly  necessary.  Apart 
from  that  provision,  he  was  in  all  respects  equal  with 
the   Father;   and  in  respect  to  his  person,  therefore, 


112  THE   MESSIAH 

some  special  ground  of  subordination,  in  order  to  the 
delegation  to  him  of  such  works  in  such  relations  with 
man,  and  with  material  and  visible  things,  would  seem 
to  be  necessary.  Again,  the  works  delegated  to  him, 
and  for  which  he  was  sent  of  the  Father,  all  of  them  in 
some  relations,  and  many  of  them  absolutely,  implied 
and  required  this  union  of  the  human  nature  with  his 
person.  Accordingly,  in  this  delegated,  subordinate 
official  Person,  he  was  foreordained  before  the  founda- 
tion of  the  world,  and  had  glory  with  the  Father  before 
the  world  was. 

By  him  and  for  him,  in  his  official  person  and  dele- 
gated character,  are  all  things.  By  him  and  for  his 
pleasure  they  were  created.  He  upholds  all  things,  and 
by  him  all  things  consist. 

His  undertaking  included  the  works  of  creation,  pro- 
vidence and  redemption ;  the  physical  and  moral  govern- 
ment of  the  world,  and  the  manifestation  of  the  Divine 
perfections  to  all  intelligent  creatures. 

In  the  execution  of  his  undertaking,  local  and  visible 
manifestations  of  his  person  and  of  his  official  preroga- 
tives and  acts  were  indispensable,  in  the  relations  he 
was  to  sustain  as  Lawgiver  and  Ruler,  Prophet  and 
Priest.  His  undertaking  comprised  a  succession  of  acts 
and  dispensations,  and  of  corresponding  changes  in  the 
manner  of  his  agency,  the  nature  of  his  manifestations, 
and  the  immediate  objects  of  his  administration.  In 
these  respects  the  progress  of  his  work  is  indicated  in 
the  revelation  he  has  made  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  in 
which  his  person  and  his  acts  appear,  from  stage  to 
stage,  in  different  aspects.  He  speaks  of  himself,  and 
is  spoken  of  by  the  inspired  writers,  sometimes  with 
reference  only  to  his  Divine,  and  at  other  times  with 
reference  only  to  his  human  nature.     On  some  occasions 


IN   MOSES   AND   THE   PROPHETS.  113 

acts  are  ascribed  to  him  which  are  proper  to  him  only 
as  Divine;  and  on  other  occasions  such  as  could  be 
affirmed  of  him  only  as  human ;  as  in  one  case,  the  act 
of  creation,  and  in  the  other,  the  act  of  walking. 

It  is  in  this  complex  person  that  he  is  primarily  the 
object  of  All  our  knowledge  of  the  Deity  as  revealed  in 
the  Scriptures.  He  is  the  image,  the  visible  manifesta- 
tion of  the  invisible  God,  whom  no  man  hath  seen  or 
can  see.  He  in  this  person  hath  declared,  manifested 
the  Father ;  no  less  under  the  earliest,  than  under  the 
present  dispensation. 

Accordingly,  though  distinguished  by  Moses  in  the 
beginning  of  his  narrative  by  designations  which  spe- 
cially relate  to  the  Divine  nature  in  his  person,  acts  are 
ascribed  to  him  which  denote  his  complex  official  per- 
son ;  such  as  walking  in  the  garden  of  Eden,  and  con- 
versing face  to  face  with  Adam.  As  his  official  work  is 
in  Scripture  referred  to  as  one  comprehensive  under- 
taking, though  involving  a  long  succession  of  acts  and 
events,  so  his  official  person  is  ever  referred  to  as  the 
same,  though  in  the  succession  many  events  preceded 
that  of  his  taking  man's  nature  into  union  with  that 
person.  By  appointment  and  covenant,  virtually  and 
officially  he  was  the  same  from  the  beginning;  and  on 
that  ground,  and  because  his  expiatory  death  in  man's 
nature  was  essential  to  his  undertaking  as  a  whole,  and 
its  effect  as  necessary  to  the  earliest  as  to  any  succeed- 
ing portion  of  man's  race,  he  is  spoken  of  as  "  slain 
from  the  foundation  of  the  world." 

Had  no  apostasy  of  man  taken  place,  we  are  warranted 
in  believing  that  he  would  have  continued  that  local, 
visible  presence  and  intercourse  with  Adam  and  his 
descendants  which  characterized  the  earliest  period  of 
their  existence.     For  as  Creator  of  all  things  he  was  the 


Ill  THE   MESSIAH 

Heir  and  Lord  of  all,  and  would  have  been  Lawgiver 
and  King  of  the  race,  the  medium  of  their  relations  to 
God  and  of  their  homage,  as  he  is  to  be  hereafter  at  the 
restitution  of  all  things  to  their  primeval  condition, 
when  all  the  evil  consequences  of  the  fall  shall  have 
been  superseded,  death  itself  destroyed,  and  the  earth 
delivered  from  the  curse  and  restored  to  its  original  per- 
fection. 

But  no  such  course  of  things  could  have  been  possible 
had  the  earth,  at  the  epoch  of  man's  creation,  been  in  its 
present  imperfect  condition,  the  scene  of  disease  and 
death.  Nor  can  there,  if  it  was  at  the  outset  so  imper- 
fect and  so  fraught  with  physical  evils,  be  a  restoration 
of  it  hereafter  to  its  pristine  state.  If  it  is  to  be  reno- 
vated, remodelled,  new-made,  it  is  because  it  has  been 
degraded  from  its  primeval  condition.  If  it  is  to  .be 
restored  by  the  instrumentali  fcy  of  fire,  that  is  to  happen 
as  the  counterpart  of  its  destruction  by  water.  If  its 
renovation  is  to  be  one  of  the  consequences  and  con- 
comitants of  his  perfect  triumph  over  the  evils  of  the 
apostasy,  its  subjection  to  its  present  state  is  no  less  cer- 
tainly a  consequence  of  the  apostasy. 

In  view  of  this  scheme  and  course  of  administration, 
we  may  perhaps  discern  some  of  the  reasons  why  this 
earth  and  the  human  race  were  selected. 

"We  may  suppose  that  of  all  the  orders  of  intelligent 
creatures,  man,  with  his  material  body,  is  the  least  ex- 
alted, and  for  that  reason,  in  such  a  course  of  manifesta- 
tion to  all  orders,  alliance  with  his  nature  would  be 
selected. 

The  visibility  required  in  such  a  scheme  would  requii'e 
union  with  a  visible  body. 

So  far  as  we  have  reason  to  conclude,  no  other  race 
of  intelligent  creatures  is  multiplied  by  succession.    That 


IN   MOSES  AND   THE   PROPHETS.  115 

peculiarity  of  the  human  race  rendered  it  practicable  for 
the  Creator  to  take  the  human  nature  into  union  with 
his  person  ;  and  it  likewise  allows  of  a  perpetual  increase 
of  the  subjects  of  his  grace  and  of  his  kingdom,  after 
the  ruins  of  the  fall  shall  have  been  overcome,  and  the 
sovereignty  of  the  rest  of  the  universe,  preserved  and 
confirmed  in  holiness,  shall  have  been  surrendered  to 
the  Father. 

Probably  the  preservation  of  the  rest  of  the  universe 
from  defection  is  among  the  results  of  his  expiation  of 
sin,  his  ascension  incarnate  to  heaven,  his  reign  there 
till  his  second  advent,  and  his  victory  over  Satan  and 
all  opposition.  That  being  accomplished,  he  resumes 
and  prosecutes  his  original  purpose  as  visible  Head  and 
King  of  the  human  race. 


CHAPTER  XL 

Of  the  official  Person  and  Relations  of  the  Messiah. 

The  term  Jehovah,  though  employed  interchangeably 
with  the  other  Divine  designations,  is  in  one  respect 
peculiar.  It  is  never  used  with  reference  to  any  other 
than  the  Divine  Being.  Hence  it  is  by  many  regarded 
as  a  proper  name.  It  is  however  replaced  in  the  New 
Testament  by  an  appellative. 

Gesenius,  who  regards  this  as  a  proper  name,  and  the 
word  Elohim  as  an  appellative,  refers  to  the  "  Sevent}^" 
as  uniformly  prefixing  the  definite  article  to  the  word 
which  they  substitute  for  Jehovah ;  making  the  version. 


116  THE    MESSIAH 

as  ill  the  English,  The  Lord.  He  considers  the  formulas, 
"I  shall  be  what  I  am,"  and  "which  is,  and  which  was. 
and  which  is  to  come,"  as  expressing  the  meaning  of 
this  name,  by  which  the  being  designated  was  to  be 
distinctively  recognized,  remembered,  and  acknowledged 
for  ever,  according  to  the  declarations:  "This  is  my 
name  for  ever,  and  this  is  my  memorial  unto  all  gene- 
rations ;"  and  "this  is  my  name  for  ever:  so  shall  ye 
name  me  throughout  all  generations." 

But,  as  has  been  shown,  this  name  is  employed  both 
separately  and  conjointly,  with  strictly  official  designa- 
tions, to  identify  the  second  Person  of  the  Trinity  in 
his  delegated  character  and  work ;  who  in  the  New 
Testament  is  announced  as  Jehovah,  Immanu-El,  Jesus, 
the  Christ. 

The  subsistence  of  three  distinct  coequal  Persons  in 
the  Godhead  is  eternal.  The  Father,  the  Son,  and  the 
Holy  Spirit  are,  as  persons,  coeternal,  coequal,  and 
alike  infinitely  removed  from  all  possibility  of  change. 
Whatever  change  has  taken  place  with  respect  to  them 
must  therefore  be  merely  relative,  and  have  reference  to 
their  respective  agencies,  and  to  the  works  of  creation, 
providence,  and  grace.  They  are  accordingly  revealed 
to  us  in  connection  with  those  works,  and  in  the  relations 
which  they  sustain  to  them,  and  to  each  other  in  con- 
nection with  them;  and  pursuant  to  the  economy  or 
covenant  in  which  those  relations  and  works  are  founded, 
the  designations  by  which  they  are  respectively  made 
known  are  official  designations,  or  employed  with  a 
personal  and  official  reference.  The  Father  is  first,  the 
fountain  of  authority,  and  delegates  the  Son.  The  Son 
is  second,  and  is  subordinate  to  the  Father.  The  Holy 
Spirit  is  third,  and  is  subordinate  to  the  Father  and  the 
Son.    The  Father  sends  the  Son  to  accomplish  the  works 


IN   MOSES  AND   THE   PROPHETS.  117 

assigned  to  him.  The  Son  reveals  the  Father,  and  ex- 
ecutes his  will.  The  Holy  Spirit  does  the  will  of  the 
Father  and  the  Son.  It  is  in  these  relations  that  the 
respective  Persons  are  worshipped,  and  not  jointly  or 
in  unity.  The  Father  is  worshipped  through  the  Son 
as  the  medium  of  access  and  homage.  The  Father  and 
Son  respectively  are  worshipped  through  the  gracious 
indwelling  influence  of  the  Holy.  Spirit. 

These  relations  of  the  respective  Persons  are  therefore 
official,  and  must  be  referred  to  as  originating  in  the 
covenant,  in  which  the  whole  scheme  of  agency  and 
manifestation  in  the  works  of  creation,  providence,  and 
redemption,  was  founded.  No  such  relations  are  to  be 
conceived  of  as  existing  eternally;  for  in  their  nature 
the  respective  Persons  are  coequal.  Subordination  must 
have  been  voluntarily  assumed  for  special  purposes  and 
agencies  which  required  it.  When  creatures  were  to 
be  brought  into  existence,  relations  not  previously  ex- 
isting were  requisite ;  and  as  those  relations  to  creatures 
required  various  agencies  of  the  respective  Persons,  new 
relations  between  them  were  requisite ;  and  these,  being 
founded  in  compact,  are  properly  termed  official.  Ac- 
cordingly, all  Divine  acts  towards  creatures  are  personal 
acts  of  the  Father,  the  Son,  or  the  Holy  Spirit.  They 
act  not  as  a  unity  in  respect  to  creatures. 

Hence  all  the  acts  of  the  Son  in  the  works  of  creation, 
providence,  and  redemption,  are  ascribed  to  him  in  one 
and  the  same  official  Person  and  delegated  character, 
by  whatever  designations  he  may,  in  relation  to  those 
works,  be  referred  to ;  and  it  was  accordingly  in  that 
character  that  he  appeared  personally  and  visibly  in  the 
ancient  dispensations ;  assumed  the  human  form,  walked, 
conversed,  and  performed  various  actions  proper  only 
to  one  in  that  form.    The  nature  of  his  delegated  under- 


118  THE   MESSIAH 

taking,  and  the  objects  of  those  dispensations,  required 
such  local  manifestations  of  his  person  and  visible 
agency,  and  also  that  he  should  speak  to  and  of  himself 
in  the  different  aspects  in  which  he  then  appeared,  and 
in  which  he  exercised  his  prophetic  office,  in  relation  to 
his  future  coming  and  his  sacerdotal  work.  Thus  he 
speaks  of  himself  as  the  Seed  of  the  Woman,  the  Son  of 
David,  the  King,  the  Saviour,  the  Anointed,  the  Mes- 
senger, the  Eedeemer,  the  Holy  One,  the  Branch,  the 
Shepherd,  Immanuel. 

This  may  be  illustrated  by  referring  to  the  New 
Testament,  and  considering  that  the  Divine  and  human 
natures  being  united  in  the  Person  of  the  incarnate 
"Word,  whatever  is  true  of  either  of  those  natures  in 
that  union,  is  affirmed  of  him  as  a  Person ;  and  for 
aught  that  appears,  whatever  is  affirmed  of  his  Divine 
nature  in  that  Person  is  affirmed  of  him  in  his  official 
character,  whether  with  reference  to  his  preexistent 
or  to  his  incarnate  state.  Many  things  are  said  of  him 
which  are  predicable  of  his  human  nature  only,  but 
which  nevertheless  could  not  be  said  if  he  was  not  both 
God  and  man  in  one  Person.  Thus  it  is  said,  that  he 
died  for  our  sins — and  that  he  rose  for  our  justification. 
Other  things  are  said  of  the  same  Person,  which  are 
predicable  only  of  his  Divine  Nature ;  as .  that  he  came 
down  from  heaven,  that  he  came  forth  from  God,  and 
that  he  was  in  the  beginning.  Hence  the  propriety  with 
which  in  both  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  the  various 
Divine  names  and  titles  are  applied  to  him,  to  designate 
the  One  Anointed,  delegated  —  Person. 

Since  writing  this  work,  the  author  has  read  the 
treatise  of  Dr.  Isaac  Watts,  entitled,  "The  Glory  of 
Christ  as  God-Man,"  in  which  he  describes  the  visible 
appearances  of  Christ  before  his  incarnation,  inquires 


IN    MOSES   AXD   THE    PROPHETS.  119 

into  the  extensive  powers  of  his  human  nature  in  its 
present  glorified  state,  and  endeavors  to  explain  and 
illustrate  the  Scriptures  which  relate  to  those  appear- 
ances, and  to  the  Person  who  under  various  divine 
names  and  official  designations  visibly  appeared,  by 
supposing  that  the  human  soul  of  Christ  was  created 
prior  to  the  creation  of  the  world,  and  thenceforth,  being- 
united  to  the  Second  Person  of  the  Godhead,  appeared 
and  acted,  visibly  and  otherwise,  in  all  that  related  to 
this  world.  There  being  no  question  but  that  the  me- 
ditorial  Person  created  the  world,  appeared  visibly,  and 
conducted  the  administration  of  the  Old  Testament  dis- 
pensations, there  is,  as  might  be  anticipated,  a  degree 
of  plausibility  in  the  reasonings  and  illustrations  of  this 
venerated  author.  But  many  grave  and  unanswerable 
objections  to  his  peculiar  views  present  themselves.  It 
is  not  perceived  that  the  supposition  of  the  preexistence 
of  the  human  soul  of  Christ  is  either  sustained  by  the 
Scriptures,  or  has  in  any  respect,  as  a  means  of  explana- 
tion, any  advantage  as  compared  with  the  view  taken 
in  this  work,  viz  :  that,  pursuant  to  a  covenant  between 
the  Persons  of  the  Godhead,  the  Second  Person  assumed 
the  official  character  and  relations  which  are  peculiar  to 
him  as  Mediator ;  those,  viz :  in  which  he  executed  the 
works  of  creation  and  providence,  and  manifested  him- 
self under  various  Divine  names  and  official  designations, 
as  Jehovah,  Elohim,  the  Messenger,  the  Messiah;  the 
official  personal  actor  and  revealer.  To  his  Person  in 
this  official  character  and  agency  the  human  nature  was 
in  due  time  united,  so  as  to  include  two  natures  in  his 
one  Person.  But  since  the  delegated  official  Person, 
into  union  with  which  the  human  nature  was  taken, 
preexisted,  and  as  a  Person  was  the  same  before  as  after 
the  incarnation,  the  acts  of  that  Person  in  the  delegated 


120  THE   MESSIAH 

official  character  and  relations  above  referred  to,  were 
to  the  same  effect,  and  involved  essentially  the  same 
conditions  before  as  after  the  advent.  Since  he  un- 
doubtedly acted  as  Mediator  in  the  ancient  dispensations, 
we  must,  in  reference  to  his  agency  then,  ascribe  to  him 
what  peculiarly  constituted  and  ever  preeminently  dis- 
tinguishes that  character,  viz :  its  being;  the  deleo-ated 
official  character  of  a  Divine  Person.  Regarded  in  that 
light,  there  seems  no  more  difficulty  in  ascribing  visible 
appearances  and  other  acts  suitable  to  his  office  in  his 
relations  to  men,  prior  to  the  assumption  of  human 
nature  into  union  with  his  Person,  than  after  that  union. 
The  relations  of  his  Person,  in  his  delegated  official 
character,  to  creatures  and  material  things,  were  the 
result,  not  of  the  incarnation,  nor  of  any  occurrence  after 
the  commencement  of  his  delegated,  subordinate,  medi- 
atorial work,  but  of  his  appointment  to  that  work,  and 
must  be  regarded  as  coeval  with  that  appointment. 
They  were  the  relations  of  the  official,  mediatorial 
Person ;  and  for  aught  that  appears  or  is  conceivable, 
rendered  visible  personal  appearances  in  the  likeness  of 
man,  and  the  performance  of  acts,  utterance  of  words, 
&c,  like  those  of  man,  as  practicable  before  as  after  the 
addition  of  human  nature  to  that  Person. 

The  views  advanced  by  Dr.  Watts  proceed  upon  the 
assumption  that  two  distinct  persons  were  united ; 
whereas  it  was  two  distinct  natures  that  were  united  in 
one  Person.  That  Person  existed  before  the  human 
nature  was  added  to  it.  The  nature  added  had  no 
separate  or  distinct  personality.  It  became  part  of  the 
preexisting  Person.  "He  took  it  to  be  his  own  nature,  .  .  . 
causing  it  to  subsist  in  his  own  Person,"  says  Owen. 
The  Logos,  the  personal  Word  or  Revealer,  the  delegated 
Official  Person  or  Mediator,  who  "  was  in  the  beginning 


IN   MOSES  AND   THE   PROPHETS.  121 

and  was  God,  was  made  flesh  and  dwelt  among  us." 
John  i.  "  He  took  not  on  him  the  nature  of  angels, 
but  he  took  on  him  the  seed  of  Abraham."  Heb.  ii. 
16.  "  He  did  not  assume  a  nature  from  angels,  but  he 
assumed  a  nature  from  the  seed  of  Abraham."  Syriac 
Text.  a  The  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  God  and  man  in  one 
person.  For  there  is  supposed  in  these  words  (Heb.  i. 
16)  his  preexistence  in  another  nature  than  that  which 
he  is  said  here  to  assume.  He  subsisted  before,  else  he 
could  not  have  taken  on  him  what  he  had  not  before. 
Gal.  iv.  4;  John  i.  14;  Tim.  iii.  16 ;  Phil.  ii.  6,  7.  That 
is,  .  .  .  the  Word  of  God  .  .  .  became  incarnate.  He 
took  to  himself  another  nature,  of  the  seed  of  Abraham 
according  to  the  promise  ;  so,  continuing  what  he  was, 
he  became  what  he  was  not ;  for  he  took  this  to  be  his 
own  nature  ...  by  taking  that  nature  into  personal 
subsistence  with  himself,  in  the  hypostasis  [substance 
or  subsistence]  of  the  Son  of  God  ;  seeing  the  nature  he 
assumed  could  no  otherwise  become  his.  For  if  he  had 
by  any  ways  or  means  taken  the  person  of  a  man  in  the 
strictest  union  that  two  persons  are  capable  of,  in  that 
case  the  nature  had  still  been  the  nature  of  that  other 
person,  and  not  his  own.  But  he  took  it  to  be  his  own 
nature,  which,  therefore,  must  be  by  a  personal  union, 
causing  it  to  subsist  in  his  own  person.  .  .  .  This  is 
done  without  a  multiplication  of  persons  in  him ;  for 
the  human  nature  can  have  no  personality  df  its  own, 
because  it  was  taken  to  be  the  nature  of  another  person 
who  was  preexistent  to  it,  and  by  assuming  it,  prevented 
its  proper  personality."  (Owen  on  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews,  chap.  ii.  16.) 

"Christ  is  the  Jehovah  whose  dominion  is  proclaimed, 
[Psalm  xcvii.,]  who  is  declared  to  be  the  God  whom  men 
'and  angels  are  bound  to  serve  and  worship.     Such  is 
6 


122  THE    MESSIAH 

He  who  for  our  deliverance  condescended  to  assume  our 
nature.  .  .  .  For  thus  it  seems  the  matter  stood  in  the 
counsels  of  Eternal  Wisdom:  It  behooved  Him  to  be 
made  like  unto  his  brethren,  that  he  might  be  a  merciful 
and  faithful  High  Priest  in  things  pertaining  unto  God, 
to  make  reconciliation  for  the  sins  of  the  people."  (Hors- 
ley's  Sermon  on  the  97th  Psalm.)  That  is :  It  behooved 
Him,  the  Christ,  Jehovah  in  the  preexisting  official 
Person,  to  assume  our  nature. 


CHAPTER     XII. 

Local  and  visible  Manifestations,  Intercourse  and  Instructions,  as  char- 
acterizing the  primeval  and  Mosaic  Dispensations — Local  Presence  of 
the  Messenger  Jehovah  in  the  Tabernacle. 

It  being  evident  that  the  Messiah  appeared  to  the 
patriarchs  in  a  visible  form,  that  they  recognized  him 
under  various  designations,  saw  him  face  to  face,  con- 
versed with  him,  offered  to  him  burnt  offerings  and 
prayers,  believed  in  him  with  that  faith  which  is  unto 
righteousness,  received  from  him  revelations,  promises, 
and  covenants,  and  in  all  the  aspects  and  relations  in 
which  he  appeared,  regarded  him  as  their  God  and  the 
God  of  providence  and  grace,  their  Creator,  Preserver, 
Lawgiver,  and  Kuler,  it  is  safe  to  conclude  that  this 
method  of  personal  and  visible  manifestation  and  inter- 
course was  a  primary  and  essential  characteristic  of 
that  dispensation.  If  the  instances  of  such  personal 
appearance  and  intercourse  in  which  minute  details  are 
recorded,  as  in  that  to  Abraham  in  the  plain  of  Mamre, 


IN   MOSES  AND   THE   PROPHETS.  123 

and  that  to  Jacob  at  Peni-El,  are  not  greatly  multiplied, 
they  are  yet  sufficiently  numerous,  considered  in  con- 
nection with  the  occasions,  circumstances  and  expres- 
sions by  which  other  instances  are  distinguished,  to 
warrant  us  in  supposing  the  frequent  occurrence  of  like 
manifestations  to  the  same  individuals,  and  to  many 
others  of  whose  personal  history  no  extended  details  are 
recorded,  and  many  others  of  whom  nothing,  or  nothing 
except  their  names,  is  mentioned.  Moreover,  when 
Moses  wrote,  such  visible  manifestations  were  familiar 
to  the  Israelites,  and  in  his  retrospective  history  no 
more  required  to  be  specially  mentioned,  except  as  in- 
cidents interwoven  with,  and  inseparable  from,  the  per- 
sonal narratives  of  the  past,  than  full  details  respecting 
sacrificial  offerings,  their  typical  references,  the  law  of 
the  Sabbath,  and  other  matters,  which  were  in  like  man- 
ner familiar,  and  constituted  the  essential  elements  of 
their  religious  system. 

There  is  ground  to  conclude  that  this  mode  of  mani- 
festation was  coeval  with  the  creation ;  and  that,  if  there 
had  been  no  apostasy  of  man,  He  "for  whom  are  all 
things,  and  by  whom  are  all  things,"  would  have  con- 
tinued visibly  and  constantly  present  with  the  race  on 
earth,  as  he  'will  be  after  he  shall  have  destroyed  the 
last  enemy,  and  obviated  the  consequences  of  the  fall. 
At  that  predicted  restitution,  a  condition  of  things  like 
that  which  preceded  the  defection  is  to  be  realized; 
when  he  is  to  dwell  with  men — their  God. 

The  New  Testament  clearly  ascertains  to  us  that  he 
was  personally  the  Creator.  The  style  and  manner  in 
which  he  spoke  and  acted,  as  recorded  by  Moses  in  his 
account  of  the  creation,  and  in  his  primeval  intercourse 
with  Adam,  coincides  in  familiarity,  and  may  be  de- 
scribed as  homogeneous,  with  that  employed  on  occasions 


12-4  THE   MESSIAH 

of  his  visible  manifestations  to  Abraham.  Jacob,  and 
others.  When  he  said,  "Let  ns  make  man  in  our  image, 
after  our  likeness,"  it  may  well  be  presumed  that,  among 
other  things,  he  had  reference  to  that  visible  form  in 
which  he  was  thenceforth  frequently  recognized,  and 
in  which  he  at  length  became  incarnate,  and  will  here- 
after be  seen  by  every  eye. 

As  instances  of  the  appropriateness  of  what  he  said 
to  a  person  locally  present,  and  speaking  and  acting  as 
a  man  would  naturally  do,  the  following  are  referred  to : 
"He  saw  every  thing  that  he  had  made,  and  behold,  it 
was  very  good.  And  the  evening  and  the  morning  were 
the  sixth  day.  And  on  the  seventh  day,  having  ended 
his  work,  he  rested,  and  blessed  the  seventh  day,  and 
sanctified  it;  because  that  in  it  he  had  rested  from,  all  his 
work  which  Elohim  created  and  made."  Such  refer- 
ences to  time  and  place  imply  an  actor  having  coin- 
cident relations.  Again,  "He planted  a  garden  eastward 
in  Eden ;  and  there  he  put  the  man  whom  he  had  formed, 
and  commanded  him,  saying,  Of  every  tree  of  the 
garden  thou  may  est  freely  eat,  but  of  the  tree  of  the 
knowledge  of  good  and  evil."  After  the  transgression, 
the  same  local  references,  and  the  like  familiarity,  and 
implication  of  his  personal  presence,  are  continued: 
"And  they  heard  the  voice" — according  to  Owen  and 
others,  the  Word — "of  Jehovah  Elohim,  walking  in  the 
garden ;  and  Adam  and  his  wife  hid  themselves  from 
the  presence" — literally,  the  face — "  of  Jehovah  Elohim, 
amongst  the  trees  of  the  garden.  And  Jehovah  Elohim 
called  unto  Adam,  and  said  unto  him,  Where  art  thou? 
And  he  said,  I  heard  thy  voice,  and  I  was  afraid,  and 
I  hid  myself."  These  passages  seem  to  be  demonstrative 
of  the  local  personal  presence  of  the  Divine  speaker,  as 
clearly  as  of  that  of  the  guilty  couple.    They  heard  him 


IN   MOSES  AND   THE   PROPHETS.  125 

in  the  garden,  and  to  avoid  meeting  or  being  met  by 
him,  they  hid  themselves  among  the  trees.  This  would 
have  been  to  no  purpose,  had  he  not  been  locally,  but 
only  spiritually  present.  They  heard  him  walking,  and 
having  retreated  to  a  covert  for  concealment,  he  called 
to  Adam ;  acts  which,  in  a  plain,  literal  narrative,  imply 
a  local  personal  presence. 

If  on  this  occasion,  when  the  delinquent  parties  were 
successively  arraigned  and  questioned,  and  the  sentence 
of  condemnation  was  pronounced  in  words  addressed 
personally  to  each,  he  was  locally  present,  the  otherwise 
seeming  paradox,  that  the  same  style  and  manner  of 
address  to  the  subtle  adversary  should  be  employed  as 
to  Adam,  disappears.  So  the  words  addressed  to  Cain 
can  hardly  be  thought  to  have  been  literally  spoken, 
but  upon  the  supposition  that  the  Divine  speaker  was 
locally  present,  and  that  his  presence  was  matter  of  pre- 
vious and  familiar  recognition  to  Cain.  A  like  inference 
may  be  made  from  the  statement  that  Elohim  came  to 
Abimelech,  and  spake  to  him  in  a  dream,  and  from  his 
address  to  Jehovah,  Gen.  xx. ;  and  also  from  the  state- 
ment that  Elohim  came  to  Laban  m  a  dream,  and  his 
mention  of  the  fact,  and  of  the  caution  he  renewed  to 
Jacob,  Gen.  xxxi. 

Nor  is  there  in  any  respect  any  thing  improbable  in 
the  supposition  that  he  was  locally  and  visibly  present 
in  the  likeness  of  man  at  that  period,  any  more  than  at 
subsequent  periods.  On  the  contrary,  the  statement 
(John  i.  1)  that  the  Word— the  delegated  Person  who 
in  due  time  assumed  our  nature  and  was  visibly  on 
earth— ivas  in  the  beginning,  and  created  all  things,  im- 
plies that  he  was  then  recognized  in  his  official  character, 
which  implies  relations  and  acts  of  which  place  and 
visibility  were   indispensable  conditions.     Such  must 


126  THE   MESSIAH 

undoubtedly  have  been  the  case  when  he  was  seen,  if 
not  uniformly  when  his  voice  was  heard.  He  may  have 
been  often  locally  present  when,  though  heard,  he  was 
not  seen.  Such,  with  respect  to  Daniel's  companions, 
was  the  case  in  his  vision,  chap.  x.  He  saw  one  in  the 
form  of  man,  whose  face  was  as  the  appearance  of  light- 
ning, and  heard  his  words ;  but  the  men  that  were  with 
him  saw  not  the  vision.  And  when  Paul  saw  his  per- 
son so  unequivocally  as  to  constitute  him  a  witness  of 
his  resurrection,  the  men  accompanying  him  heard  his 
voice,  but  saw  him  not.  When  it  is  simply  said  that 
he  appeared  to  Abraham,  Isaac,  Jacob,  or  others,  and 
the  narrative  proceeds  to  relate  what  he  said,  and  what 
answers  were  made,  the  language  plainly  implies  his 
local  personal  presence,  though  no  mention  is  made  of 
his  being  seen.  The  occasions  and  objects  of  his  appear- 
ance in  such  instances  were,  so  far  as  we  can  judge,  as 
important  and  as  appropriate  to  such  local  and  visible 
manifestations,  as  those  in  relation  to  which  it  is 
expressly  recorded  that  he  was  seen  in  the  likeness  of 
man. 

The  primeval  and  Levitical  dispensations  were  spe- 
cially characterized  by  visible  manifestations,  acts,  rites 
and  events,  embodying,  enforcing,  and  illustrating  the 
great  truths  which  were  revealed.  Thus,  on  the  part  of 
man,  the  first  prohibition  enjoined  upon  Adam,  besides 
its  reference  to  his  will,  had  relation  to  an  external  and 
visible  act,  and  an  external  and  visible  object,  the  fruit 
of  a  particular  tree.  The  ritual  of  worship  prescribing, 
among  other  offerings,  that  of  slaughtered  animals  on 
an  altar,  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath,  the  long  list  of 
fasts,  feasts,  convocations,  ordinances,  rites  and  cere- 
monies, and  most  of  the  injunctions  and  prohibitions  of 
the  moral  law,  had  respect  to  outward  and  visible  acts. 


IN   MOSES   AND   THE   PROPHETS.  127 

And  on  the  other  hand,  the  Divine  Lawgiver  and  Euler 
manifested  himself  visibly,  announced  his  revelations 
and  commands  in  audible  words,  distinguished  the  right- 
eous  generally  by  outward  prosperity,  long  life,  and 
numerous   descendants,    and   the  wicked   by  opposite 
evils,  or  by  special  calamities  and  judgments  manifest  to 
public  observation.     By  this  method,  the  personality, 
the   attributes   and  perfections,  the    prerogatives   and 
rights,  the  holiness,  faithfulness,  mercy  and  truth  of 
Jehovah,  were  not  only  exhibited  to  the  view  of  all  in- 
telligent creatures,  fallen  and  unfallen,  but  were  exhib- 
ited in  such  relations  to  accountable  creatures,  in  their 
various  circumstances,  and  in   their  connections  with 
laws,  covenants,  promises,  and  predictions,  as  to  lead 
unmistakably  to  a  right  apprehension  of  them,  and  a 
right  apprehension  of  the  conduct  of  men  in  view  of 
them:  results  which,  so  far  as  we  can  judge,  could  have 
been  produced  in  no  other  way,  unless  by  endowing 
creatures  with  omniscience,  or  with  plenary  inspiration. 
For,  from  their  nature  as  created,  finite  and  dependent 
agents,  their  thoughts,  apprehensions  and  inferences  are 
successive,  and  all  the  knowledge  of  external  things 
which  they  acquire  otherwise  than  by  inspiration,  they 
acquire  by  means  of  their  external  senses ;  seeing  visible 
objects,  hearing  audible  sounds,  &c.     Those  to  whom 
these  divine  manifestations,  personal,  visible,  and  audible, 
were  first  made,  had  no  prototypes,  precedents  or  anal- 
ogies, to  assist  them  in  gaining  right  apprehensions,  and 
deducing  j  ust  conclusions,  had  the  method  of  instruction 
been  that  merely  of  announcements,  from  an  invisible 
source,  of  abstract  propositions.     But  by  the  method 
actually  adopted,  prototypes,  precedents  and  analogies 
were  furnished,  which,  being  recorded  in  the  relations 
and  historical  connections  in  which  they  occurred  and 


128  THE   MESSIAH 

were  observed,  serve  effectually  for  the  instruction  of 
those  to  whom  similar  outward  and  visible  manifestations 
are  not  vouchsafed. 

On  the  other  hand,  by  the  method  taken,  the  nature, 
deserts,  and  consequences  of  sin  were  unmistakably 
shown,  by  its  being  embodied  and  publicly  exhibited 
in  visible  acts  and  their  consequences.  Thus  the  trans- 
gression of  Adam,  regarded  in  its  connection  with  the 
prohibition  which  had  been -emphatically  enjoined,  with 
his  arraignment,  and  the  sentence  pronounced  upon  him, 
and  with  his  expulsion  from  Eden,  and  the  curse  and 
blight  visibly  produced  upon  the  earth  on  which  he 
was  doomed  to  toil  for  a  subsistence,  and  at  length  to 
decline  and  die,  furnished  illustrations  of  the  inde- 
scribable turpitude  of  his  apostasy,  and  of  the  moral  and 
physical  evils  that  were  among  its  just  and  legitimate 
consequences,  which  neither  then  nor  now  could  be 
conveyed  in  an  abstract  statement.  So  the  hypocrisy, 
envy,  infidelity,  and  malignity  of  Cain,  regarded  in  con- 
nection with  the  knowledge  he  had  of  the  consequences 
of  Adam's  transgression,  and  of  the  laws,  obligations, 
and  duties  which  were  binding  upon  him  ;  and  in  con- 
nection with  the  remorse  visibly  depicted  on  his  coun- 
tenance, his  expulsion  from  the  accustomed  place  of 
worship  and  of  intercourse  with  Jehovah,  and  the  spec- 
tacle he  was  to  exhibit  as  a  fugitive  and  a  vagabond, 
despised  and  shunned  as  an  outcast,  for  whom  the  earth, 
in  respect  to  his  tillage  of  it,  was  specially  cursed  and 
blighted;  furnished,  to  the  view  of  all  intelligent  ob- 
servers, lessons  and  illustrations  which  could  in  no 
other  conceivable  way  have  been  exhibit  id. 

The  like  may  be  observed  concerning  the  spectacle  of 
violence  and  corruption  which  all  but  universally  pre- 
vailed before  the  deluge,  and  on  account  of  Avhich  that 


IN   MOSES  AND   THE   PROPHETS.  129 

exterminating  judgment  upon  the  race,  with  its  visible 
accompaniments  and  its  physical  effects  upon  the  earth 
itself  and  its  irrational  inhabitants,  was,  in  the  view  of 
the  whole  universe  of  accountable  creatures,  specially 
and  j  udicially  inflicted.  Also,  concerning  the  notorious 
and  awful  wickedness  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  and 
the  exterminating  retribution  visited  upon  them,  making 
them  a  public  and  perpetual  example.  And,  omitting 
to  specify  less  conspicuous  and  individual  instances  to 
the  like  effect  in  the  history  of  the  patriarchs,  or  that  of 
the  treatment  of  the  Israelites  in  Egypt,  and  its  coun- 
terpart in  the  plagues  which  ensued,  or  any  of  later  date, 
it  is  manifest  that  this  method  of  manifestation,  instruc- 
tion, warning,  and  reproof,  was  characteristic  of  those 
early  times. 

If  now,  in  conformity  with  "the  unanimous  opinion 
of  the  ancient  Church."  we  consider  that  He  who  in  his 
delegated  character  is,  in  Moses  and  the  prophets,  desig- 
nated by  all  the  Divine  names  and  titles,  and  specially, 
among  his  peculiar  official  titles,  by  that  of  the  Messen- 
ger Jehovah,  "  was  the  mediator  in  all  the  relations  of 
God  to  the  people,"  and,  as  expressed  by  Hengstenberg, 
from  the  beginning  constantly  filled  up  the  infinite  dis- 
tance between  the  Creator  and  the  creation,  and  was  in 
all  ages  the  Light  of  the  world,  and  Mediator  in  all  the 
relations  of  God  to  the  human  race,  then  his  early 
method  of  local,  personal,  and  visible  manifestations, 
interpositions,  and  instructions,  is  obviously  in  keeping 
with  that  exhibited  during  his  subsequent  sojourn  on 
earth,  and  so  accordant  with  the  nature  and  ends  of  his 
official  character  audits  relations  and  objects,  as  to  imply 
that  the  present  dispensation  is  an  exception,  to  be  suc- 
ceeded by  one  of  renewed  and  more  glorious,  impressive, 
and  instructive  visibility  than  that  of  Paradise,  when 


130  THE   MESSIAH 

all  his  prior  administrations  and  agencies  will  be  com- 
pletely vindicated,  every  eye  will  see  him,  and  every 
tongue  confess  that  he  is  Jehovah,  to  the  glory  of  God 
the  Father. 

The  foregoing  observations  may  be  further  illustrated 
by  reference  to  the  tabernacle  as  the  local  residence  of 
the  Messenger  Jehovah,  and  as  in  some  respects  typical. 

The  pattern  of  the  tabernacle  which  was  shown  to 
Moses  in  the  mount,  was  a  representation  to  him  of  the 
person  and  work  of  the  Mediator  as  Priest  and  King  in 
human  nature,  which  he  was  required  to  represent  to 
the  children  of  Israel  by  the  visible  structure  which  he 
was  to  erect.  The  true  tabernacle,  of  which  this  was  the 
figure,  was  his  human  nature,  in  which  his  sacrifice,  in- 
tercession, and  regal  glory  were  to  be  realized. 

The  tabernacle,  with  its  furniture  and  services,  signi- 
fied to  the  worshippers  the  leading  truths  concerning 
the  person,  offices,  mediation,  incarnation,  sacrifice,  in- 
tercession, and  final  glory  and  reign  of  Christ.  It  taught 
these  truths  by  means  of  visible  signs— figures  intended 
to  serve  that  purpose  till  Christ  should  come,  and  in 
human  nature,  the  true  tabernacle,  make  atonement  by 
shedding  his  own  blood,  and  openly  manifesting  the  way 
of  reconciliation  and  access  to  God  through  him. 

This  way  into  "  the  holiest  of  all,"  i.  e.,  heaven  itself, 
was  not  to  be  openly  and  completely  manifested,  but 
only  as  was  practicable  through  these  visible  signs  and 
teachings,  during  the  continuance  of  the  tabernacle 
erected  by  Moses,  and  afterwards  placed  in  the  first 
temple,  as  a  figure  of  the  true ;  but  the  coming  of 
Christ  in  the  true  tabernacle,  his  human  nature,  to  offer 
himself  a  sacrifice,  would  fulfil  and  make  manifest  the 
things  signified  in  the  figure.  The  tabernacle  signified 
that  he  would  become  literally  incarnate;  but  by  the 


EST   MOSES  AND   THE   PROPHETS.  131 

actual  exhibition  of  his  person  in  human  nature,  all  ob- 
scurity and  doubt  would  be  removed. 

The  tabernacle,  as  a  figure  of  his  incarnate  person,  in- 
cluded, in  the  sanctuary  within  the  veil,  the  golden  altar 
of  incense,  the  ark  of  the  covenant,  and  the  mercy-seat, 
which  was  the  throne;  and  in  the  other  apartment, 
the  altar  of  burnt  offering,  the  show-bread,  the  candle- 
stick, &c,  answering  to  the  offices  and  benefits  of  Him 
who  was  both  priest  and  sacrifice,  altar  and  mercy-seat. 

That  they  had  an  ark  and  tent  answerable  essentially 
to  the  tabernacle  anterior  to  that  erected  in  the  wil- 
derness, is  implied  in  several  passages.  Thus,  Exod. 
xxxiii.,  before  the  gifts  had  been  received  for  the  new 
structure,  "Moses  took  the  tabernacle  and  pitched  it  with- 
out the  camp,  afar  off  from  the  camp  ;  .  .  .  and  as  Moses 
entered  into  the  tabernacle,  the  cloudy  pillar  descended  and 
stood  at  the  door  of  the  tabernacle,  and  talked  [see  Heb.] 
with  Moses."  Again,  Exod.  xvi.,  on  the  first  dispensa- 
tion of  manna,  Aaron  is  directed  to  "  Take  a  pot  and  put 
an  omer  full  of  manna  therein,  and  lay  it  up  before  Jeho- 
vah, to  be  kept  for  your  generations.  So  Aaron  laid  it 
up  before  the  testimony,  to  be  kept:"  that  is,  probably, 
in  the  tent  or  place  where  the  Shekina  dwelt,  as  after- 
wards in  the  tabernacle  at  Shiloh  and  Mizpeh,  prior  to 
the  erection  of  the  temple.  The  same  thing  may  be 
implied  in  the  words  of  the  Philistines  when  the  Israel- 
ites brought  the  ark  of  the  covenant  into  their  camp : 
"The  Philistines  were  afraid,  for  they  said,  Elohim  is 
come  into  the  camp.  Woe  unto  us !  .  .  .  this  is  the  Elo- 
him that  smote  the  Egyptians."  1  Sam.  iv.  As  if,  in  the 
information  they  had  received  concerning  the  plagues 
of  Egypt,  the  presence  of  the  Elohim  was  associated 
with  a  tent  or  tabernacle,  and  the  ark  of  the  covenant. 
That  there  was  such  a  place  of  Divine  manifestation 


132  THE   MESSIAH 

among  the  Israelites  during  their  sojourn  in  Egypt  and 
at  the  legation  of  Moses,  is  in  the  highest  degree  prob- 
able, since  the  true  faith  and  worship  were  preserved  ; 
and  probably  it  was  to  that  place  that  Moses,  in  the 
progress  of  his  controversy  with  Pharaoh,  often  repaired 
for  direction  and  authority.  And  Moses  return e  d  unto 
Jehovah,  and  said,  Adonai,  wherefore,"  &c.  Exod.  v. 
"And  Moses  spake  before  Jehovah.  .  .  .  'And  Moses 
said  before  Jehovah."  vi.  'And  Moses  went  out  from  Pha- 
raoh, and  entreated  Jehovah."  viii.  "And  Moses  went 
out  of  the  city  from  Pharaoh,  [perhaps  from  the  district 
of  the  Egyptians  to  that  of  the  Israelites,]  and  spread 
abroad  his  hands  unto  Jehovah."  ix.  The  same  word 
(Sheken  or  Shekina)  which  is  employed  to  signify  that 
Jehovah  dwelt  in  the  pillar  of  cloud  and  of  fire,  and  in 
the  tabernacle  between  the  cherubim,  is  employed  also 
Gen.  iii.  2-i,  which  may  read,  "  He  caused  the  cherubim 
to  dwell  at  the  east  of  the  garden  of  Eden,"  i.  e.,  as  in  a 
tent  or  covering,  a  tabernacle,  or  column  of  cloud  or  fire. 
Doubtless  Moses  previously  understood  the  true  doc- 
trine concerning  the  person,  mediation,  and  sacrifice  of 
the  Divine  Mediator;  but  to  qualify  him  to  teach  this 
doctrine  and  to  enforce  the  duties  connected  with  it,  an 
exhibition  was  made  to  him  of  that  Person  in  the  form 
in  which  he  was  to  make  atonement  by  the  sacrifice  of 
himself.  On  the  occasion  of  receiving  instruction  con- 
cerning the  tabernacle,  being  called  up  into  the  mount, 
he,  with  Nadab,  Abihu,  and  seventy  of  the  elders,  saw 
the  Elohe  of  Israel,  in  the  likeness  of  the  God-man,  as 
appears  from  the  allusion  to  his  person,  and  what  took 
place.  "There  was  under  his  feet  as  it  were  a  paved 
work  of  a  sapphire  stone.  .  .  .  Upon  the  nobles  he  laid 
not  his  hand.  .  .  .  They  saw  {the)  Elohim,  and  did  eat 
and  drink."     They  evidently   saw  his  person  in  the 


IN   MOSES   AND   THE   PROPHETS.  133 

form  in  which  he  was  to  execute  the  priestly  office,  and 
which  was  to  be  foreshown  by  the  tabernacle.  No  man 
hath  seen  the  Father.  But  Moses  saw  (the)  Elohim,  the 
Elohe  of  Israel,  Jehovah,  the  Messenger,  the  God-man. 
On  another  occasion  Jehovah  came  down  and  stood  in 
the  door  of  the  tabernacle,  and  said,  "  With  Moses  will 
I  speak  month  to  mouth,  even  apparently,  and  not  in 
dark  speeches,  and  the  similitude  of  Jehovah  shall  he 
behold."  Numb.  i.  He  appeared  in  the  form  of  man 
'to  Abraham,  Jacob,  and  others,  with  no  accompaniment 
of  visible  glory.  Isaiah  saw  him,  the  King,  Jehovah 
Zebaoth,  seated  on  a  throne ;  Ezekiel,  in  the  likeness  of 
a  man  on  a  throne;  John,  as  the  Son  of  man,  clothed 
with,  a  garment  down  to 'his  feet. 

After  this  manifestation  to  the  leaders  and  elders  of 
Israel,  Moses  went  alone  into  the  midst  of  the  cloud  on 
the  mount,  and  remained  there  forty  days,  receiving 
instructions  for  himself  and  the  people  concerning  the 
tabernacle.  "And  Jehovah  spake  unto  Moses,  saying, 
Speak  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  that  they  bring  me  an 
offering,  &c. ;  .  .  .  and  let  them  make  me  a  sanctuary, 
that  /  may  dwell  among  them.  According  to  all  that  I 
show  thee,  after  the  pattern  of  the  tabernacle,  and  the 
pattern  of  all  the  instruments  thereof,  even  so  shall  ye 
make  it."  This  perfect  model,  by  an  imitation  of  which 
he  was  to  represent  the  incarnate  person  and  sacerdotal 
work  of  Christ,  was  shown  to  him  in  the  mount.  No 
doubt  a  visible  pattern  of  the  tabernacle  and  its  instru- 
ments was  shown  to  him.  That  it  was  not  a  mental 
vision,  or  a  verbal  description  merely,  by  which  he  was 
instructed,  is  clearly  indicated  by  the  phraseology  above 
quoted  from  Exod.  xxv.  9  :  "According  to  all  that  I 
show  thee ; "  more  strictly,  "According  to  all  that  I 
make  thee  to  see." 


134  THE   MESSIAH 

Again,  after  a  variety  of  directions  concerning  the 
table  for  the  show-bread,  the  candlestick,  and  other  arti- 
cles of  furniture,  Jehovah  said  to  Moses,  "Look  that 
thou  make  them  after  their  pattern  which  was  showed 
thee  in  the  mount."  Exod.  xxv.  -10,  and  xxvi.  30. 
"  Thou  shalt  rear  up  the  tabernacle  according  to  the 
fashion  thereof  which  was  showed  thee  in  the  mount." 
And  relating  to  the  altar  of  burnt  offerings:  "Hollow 
with  boards  shalt  thou  make  it :  as  it  was  showed  thee 
in  the  mount,  so  shalt  thou  make  it."  xxvii.  8.  Again, 
at  the  dedication  of  the  tabernacle  it  is  said,  "Accord- 
ing unto  the  pattern  which  Jehovah  had  showed  Moses, 
so  he  made  the  candlestick."     Numb.  viii.  4. 

This  phraseology,  accompanied  as  it  is  by  minute 
verbal  descriptions  of  the  several  objects,  still  refers  to 
something  more  definite  ;  a  form,  model,  pattern,  which 
he  was  strictly  to  imitate.  The  purposes  to  be  answered 
required  perfect  accuracy  in  the  copy.  And  hence  the 
apostle,  Heb.  viii.  5,  alluding  to  this  scene,  says :  "Moses 
was  admonished  of  God,  when  he  was  about  to  make 
the  tabernacle :  for,  See,  saith  he,  that  thou  make  all 
things  according  to  the  pattern  showed  to  thee  in  the 
mount." 

This  construction  is  confirmed  by  a  portion  of  subse- 
quent history.  When  Solomon  was  about  "to  build  an 
house  for  the  sanctuary,"  David,  instructed  by  Divine 
inspiration  in  respect  to  the  forms  of  different  parts  of  the 
edifice,  caused  patterns  or  models  thereof  to  be  constructed 
for  the  guidance  of  his  son.  "  Then  David  gave  to  Sol- 
omon the  pattern  of  the  porch,  and  of  the  houses  thereof, 
and  of  the  treasuries  thereof,  and  of  the  upper  cham- 
bers thereof,  and  of  the  place  of  the  mercy-seat;  and 
the  pattern  of  all  that  he  had  by  the  Spirit,  of  the  courts 
of  the  house  of  Jehovah,  and  of  all  the  chambers  round 


IN   MOSES   AND   THE   PROPHETS.  135 

about,  of  the  treasuries  of  the  house  of  Elohim,  and  of 
the  treasuries  of  the  dedicated  things."  1  Chron.  xxviii. 
In  these  services  no  discretion  was  left  either  to  Moses 
or  to  Solomon.  The  things  to  be  made  were  to  be  made 
in  exact  imitation  of  the  patterns  furnished. 

If  we  suppose  that  Moses  beheld  the  person  of  the 
Mediator  in  the  likeness  of  man,  and  at  the  same  time 
beheld  the  model  of  the  tabernacle  and  its  furniture,  by 
a  copy  of  which  he  was  visibly  to  prefigure  and  repre- 
sent the  human  nature  and  the  official  works  of  Christ, 
then  the  structure  erected  b}7  him,  with  the  throne,  the 
altar,  and  all  the  instruments  and  rites  of  the  Levitical 
service,  will  appear  in  the  highest  degree  fitted  to  instruct 
the  people  in  the  great  truths  concerning  his  kingly  and 
priestly  offices.  His  consecration  of  the  most  holy  apart- 
ment as  his  dwelling-place,  answerable,  as  the  place  of 
his  intercession  and  of  his  mediatorial  throne,  to  that  in 
which  he  was  to  appear  after  his  incarnation  and  ascen- 
sion, will  be  intelligible ;  and  the  fact  that  there  he  reigned 
as  King,  dictated  laws,  and  administered  the  Theocracy, 
and  that  he  was  on  subsequent  occasions  seen  in  con- 
nection with  the  visible  form  and  accompaniments  of  the 
tabernacle,  by  Isaiah,  Ezekiel,  and  others,  and  lastly  by 
John  after  his  ascension,  will  appear  consistent  with  all 
that  is  made  known  to  us  of  his  mediatorial  agency  and 
visible  manifestations  under  the  primeval,  patriarchal, 
and  Mosaic  dispensations.  During  those  dispensations 
he  as  truly  officiated  as  Mediator  as  after  the  full  reali- 
zation of  what  the  tabernacle  prefigured;  exercised  the 
offices  of  Prophet,  Priest,  and  King ;  and  dwelt  person- 
ally in  the  holy  place  of  the  tabernacle  after  that  was 
prepared,  till  he  formally  forsook  and  withdrew  from  it, 
prior  to  the  destruction  of  the  first  temple.     His  office 


136  THE   MESSIAH 

and  relations,  as  civil  head  and  ruler  of  the  nation,  im- 
plied his  personal  presence.  That,  as  their  civil  ruler, 
he  was  King  in  the  same  sense  as  other  kingly  rulers, 
appears  from  what  is  said  when,  through  unbelief  and 
desire  of  a  leader  and  judge  who  should  be  always 
visible,  they  sinfully  demanded  a  king  from  among 
themselves,  like  the  kings  of  other  nations :  "  Ye  said, 
A  king  shall  reign  over  us,  when  Jehovah  your  Elohe 
was  your  king."     1  Sam.  xii.  13. 

From  the  oracle,  the  cover  of  the  mercy-seal  in  the  holy 
place  within  the  veil,  as  one  ever  present,  he  spoke  to 
Moses,  dictated  the  laws  which  are  recorded  after  the 
erection  of  the  tabernacle,  and  gave  responses  to  the 
high  priest  on  special  occasions,  whenever  appealed  to, 
not  only  during  the  ministry  of  Moses,  but  afterwards. 
And  it  is  to  be  noticed  that,  as  there  were  during  the  ear- 
lier dispensations  certain  localities  appropriated  to  Di- ' 
vine  worship,  where  altars  were  erected  to  Jehovah  and 
typical  sacrifices  offered,  and  Divine  manifestations  and 
revelations  were  vouchsafed;  so,  after  the  tabernacle  was 
set  up,,  and  also  after  it  was  transferred  to  the  temple,  it 
was  the  place  resorted  to  for  oracular  responses  as  well 
as  for  sacrifices  of  burnt  offering.  On  the  occasion  of 
the  war  with  Benjamin,  "the  children  of  Israel,  and  all 
the  people,  went  up  and  came  unto  the  house  of  Elohim, 
and  wept,  and  sat  there  before  Jehovah,  and  fasted  that 
day  until  even,  and  offered  burnt  offerings  and  peace 
offerings  before  Jehovah.  And  the  children  of  Israel  in- 
quired of  Jehovah,  (for  the  ark  of  the  covenant  of  [the] 
Elohim  was  there  in  those  days,  and  Phinehas  the  son  of 
Aaron  stood  before  it  in  those  days,)  saying,  Shall  I  yet 
again  go  out  to  battle?  &c.  .  .  .  And  Jehovah  said,  Go 
up,"  kc.  Judges  xx.     Thence,  in  the  days  of  Eli,  Jeho- 


IN   MOSES   AND   THE   PROPHETS.  137 

vah  spoke  to  Samuel.  1  Sam.  iii.  See  also  Joshua  vii. 
G  ;  1  Chron.  xxi.  30 ;  2  Sam.  xxii.  7  ;  Psalm  xviii.  6 ; 
xxvii.  4;  Isaiah  lxvi.  6. 

Now,  the  tabernacle  was  erected  expressly  to  be  the 
dwelling-place  of  Jehovah  as  Mediator.  "  Let  them 
make  me  a  sanctuary,  that  I  may  dwell  among  them." 
Exod.  xxv.  28.  "  Thou  shalt  put  the  mercy-seat  above 
upon  the  ark;  and  in  the  ark  thou  shall  put  the  tes- 
timony that  I  shall  give  thee.  And  there  I  will  meet 
with  thee,  and  I  will  commune  with  thee  from  above  the 
mercy-seat,  from  between  the  two  cherubim  which  are 
upon  the  ark  of  the  testimony,  of  all  things  which  I  will 
give  thee  in  commandment  unto  the  children  of  Israel." 
xxv.  21,  22.  "  There  I  will  meet  with  the  children  of 
Israel,  and  the  tabernacle  shall  be  sanctified  by  my  glory. 
.  .  .  And  I  will  dwell  among  the  children  of  Israel, 
and  will  be  their  God,  and  they  shall  know  that  I  am 
Jehovah  their  Elohe,  that  brought  them  forth  out  of  the 
land  of  Egypt,  that  I  may  dwell  among  them."  xxix. 
43,  45,  46.  The  tabernacle  in  the  wilderness  had  its 
station  in  the  midst  of  the  camps;  from  the  precincts  of 
which  all  lepers  were  to  be  excluded,  "  that  they  defile 
not  their  camps  in  the  midst  whereof  I  dwell."  Numb. 
v.  3.  So  no  satisfaction  might  be  taken  for  the  life  of  a 
murderer  in  the  land  of  Canaan  ;  for  blood  defiled  the 
land,  and  it  could  not  be  cleansed  "  but  by  the  blood 
of  him  that  shed  it.  Defile  not  therefore  the  land  which 
ye  shall  inhabit,  wherein  I  dwell :  for  I  Jehovah  dwell 
among  the  children  of  Israel."  Numb.  xxxv.  34.  Ac- 
cordingly we  read  that  "the  glory  of  Jehovah  filled  the 
tabernacle.  .  .  .  The  cloud  of  Jehovah  was  upon  the 
tabernacle  by  day,  and  lire  was  on  it  by  night,  in  the 
sight  of  all  the  house  of  Israel  throughout  all  their  jour- 
neys."    Exod.  xl.  34,  38. 


138  THE    MESSIAH 

All  this  phraseology  plainly  indicates  the  local  pres- 
ence of  the  Personal  Word  ;  as  plainly  as  the  records  of 
his  visible  presence  on  any  occasions.  Various  other 
scriptures  confirm  this.  When  king  David  said  to  Na- 
than, "  See  now,  I  dwell  in  an  house  of  cedar,  but  the 
ark  of  God  dwelleth  within  curtains,"  Nathan  was 
directed  to  "  Gro  and  tell  David,  Thus  saith  Jehovah, 
Shalt  thou  build  me  an  house  to  dwell  in  ?  Whereas  I 
have  not  dwelt  in  any  house  since  the  time  that  I  brought 
up  the  children  of  Israel  out  of  Egj^pt,  even  to  this  day ; 
but  have  walked  in  a  tent  and  in  a  tabernacle.'''1  To  this 
follow  allusions  to  his  dealings  with  David,  and  promises 
concerning  the  future.  "Then  went  king  David  in 
[i.e.  into  the  tabernacle]  and  sat  before  Jehovah,  .  .  .  and 
made  acknowledgments,  thanksgivings,  and  prayers  to 
Jehovah  Zebaoth,  the  Elohe  of  Israel."     2  Sam.  vii. 

It  is  thus  manifest  that  the  tabernacle  was  intended 
as  the  residence  of  the  official  Person,  and  with  reference 
to  his  official  works ;  and  being  a  figure  of  his  human 
nature,  he  dwelt  in  it,  and  exercised  his  prophetic,  regal, 
and  priestly  offices  in  it,  as  he  was  to  do  afterwards  when 
literally  incarnate.  If  it  represented  his  human  nature, 
then  doubtless  he  dwelt  in  it ;  and  if  he  dwelt  in  it  in 
any  sense  answerable  to  his  subsequent  dwelling  in  the 
human  nature,  then  he  dwelt  in  it  locally  and  personally. 
The  services  performed  there  accordingly  imply  and 
confirm  this  view.  There  was  a  shedding  of  blood,  the 
blood  of  the  covenant,  which  has  flowed  in  every  age. 
through  which  remission  of  sin  was  granted.  See  Levit. 
xvii.  2;  Heb.  ix.  22. 

No  atonement  could  be  made  but  by  sacrificial  blood- 
shedding;  and  if  the  shedding  and  sprinkling  of  blood 
in  the  tabernacle  service  prefigured  the  true  atonement, 
then  it  referred  to  the  incarnate  Word;  and  if  he  was 


IN"   MOSES    AND   THE    PROPHETS.  139 

in  any  manner  in  the  holy  place,  he  must  have  dwelt 
there  in  the  person  and  likeness  in  which  he  appeared 
when  visible.  If  any  Divine  Person  was  present  in  the 
tabernacle,  it  must  have  been  the  Mediator  in  his  official 
capacity.  For  to  suppose  it  to  have  been  the  Father,  is 
to  suppose  that  in  the  Levitical  services  there  was  in  the 
minds  of  the  worshippers  no  recognition  of  the  Mediator. 
Accordingly,  when  he  visibly  appeared  incarnate 
among  men,  he  spoke  of  the  temple  as  representing  his 
body.  "Destroy  this  temple,  and  in  three  days  I  will 
raise  it  up.  .  .  .  But  he  spake  of  the  temple  of  his  body." 
John  ii.  19,  21.  And  John,  describing  the  Messiah  as 
he  appeared  visibly  incarnate,  says  the  Word  was  God — • 
was  in  the  beginning— created  all  things.  "  The  Word 
became  flesh  and  dwelt  [literally,  tabernacled]  among  us, 
and  we  beheld  his  glory."  John  i.  See  also  the  Epistle 
to  the  Hebrews,  especially  chap.  viii. — x.,  where  the 
Mosaic  tabernacle  of  witness,  as  it  is  called  in  Numbers 
and  Acts  vii.,  is  in  all  its  essential  characteristics  and 
objects  contrasted  with  the  person  and  office- work  of 
Christ  as  he  appeared  incarnate, — "a  minister  of  the 
sanctuary  and  of  the  true  tabernacle,  [his  human  nature,] 
which  the  Lord  pitched  and  not  man," — in  fulfilment 
of  the  things  signified  and  prefigured  in  the  tabernacle 
of  witness,  "which  was  a  figure  for  the  time  then  pres- 
ent." "  But  Christ  being  come,  ...  by  a  greater  and 
more  perfect  tabernacle  not  made  with  hands,  ...  by 
his  own  blood  entered  once  into  the  holy  place,  [heaven 
as  prefigured  by  the  holy  of  holies  within  the  veil,] 
having  obtained  eternal  redemption  for  us;"  i.  e.,  by  the 
offering  of  his  own  blood  as  an  atoning  sacrifice  for  sin, 
as  prefigured  by  the  sacrificial  shedding  of  blood  in  the 
Levitical  service  and  the  patriarchal  worship.  "  He  en- 
tered not,  when  he  offered  himself  a  sacrifice,  into  the 


140  THE    MESSIAH 

holy  places  made  with  hands,  which  are  the  figures  of 
the  true,  but  into  heaven  itself.  Nor  yet  did  he  oiler 
himself  often,  as  the  high  priest  entered  into  the  holy 
place  every  year  with  blood  of  others,  but  now 'once  at 
the  end  of  the  Levitical  economy,  he  appeared  to  put 
away  sin  by  the  sacrifice  of  himself."  After  he  had 
once  offered  himself  a  sacrifice  for  sin,  he  ascended,  and 
"sat  down  on  the  right  hand  of  God,  thenceforth  ex- 
pecting till  his  enemies  be  made  his  footstool.  For  by 
one  offering  he  hath  perfected  for  ever  them  that  are 
sanctified.  Whereof  the  Holy  Ghost  also  is  a  witness 
to  us :  for  after  that  he  had  said,  This  is  the  covenant 
that  I  will  make  with  them  after  those  days,  saith  the 
Lord,  I  will  put  my  laws  into  their  hearts,  and  in  their 
minds  will  I  write  them ;  and  their  sins  and  iniquities 
will  I  remember  no  more.  JSTow  where  remission  of 
these  is,  there  is  no  more  offering  for  sin.  Having 
therefore  boldness  to  enter  into  the  holiest  by  the  blood 
of  Jesus,  by  a  new  and  living  [life-giving]  way,  which 
he  hath  consecrated  for  us,  through  the  veil,  that  is  to 
say,  his  flesh ;  and  having  an  High  Priest  over  the  house 
of  God,  let  us  draw  near  with  a  true  heart  in  full  assur- 
ance of  faith." 

The  foregoing  observations  and  references  show,  in 
some  degree,  how  Moses  and  his  inspired  successors 
wrote  of  the  Messiah. 


IX    MOSES    AXD   THE    PROPHETS.  141 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Of  the  Chaldee  Paraphrasts — Their  method  of  designating  the  Per- 
sonal AVokd  or  Revealer — Occasion  and  Necessity  of  it. 

He  who,  in  the  primeval  dispensation,  was,  in  his 
official  character,  distinctively  announced  as  the  Messen- 
ger Jehovah,  and  the  Messenger  Elohim,  is,  in  the  same 
character,  no  less  distinctively  announced,  on  his  visible 
appearance  incarnate,  as  the  Word.  And,  taking  the 
words,  John  i.  1,  last  clause,  in  the  order  in  which 
they  occur  in  the  original,  "  God  (Elohim)  was  the 
Word,"  He,  in  that  character,  is  declared  to  be  the 
Creator.  "All  things  were  made  by  him."  "  By  him  " — 
referred  to  as  the  Son,  and  as  the  image  of  the  invisible 
God,  in  whom  we  have  redemption  through  his  blood — 
"  were  all  things  created,  that  are  in  heaven  and  that 
are  in  earth,  visible  and  invisible."  Col.  i.  These 
designations  and  ascriptions  undoubtedly  identify  him 
in  respect  to  his  person,  and  his  official  character,  with 
Elohim,  who  (Gen.  i.)  in  the  beginning  created  the 
heavens  and  the  earth. 

But  the  designation  translated  Word — a  term  em- 
ployed in  the  abstract  for  the  concrete,  as  light  for  the 
enlightener,  life  for  life-giver,  Logos,  or  Word,  for  re- 
vealer— has  a  counterpart,  of  like  personal  and  official 
significance,  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  which  was  recog- 
nized by  the  ancient  Jewish  church,  and  by  the  Chaldee 
paraphrasts ;  and  which,  in  a  Chaldee  form,  the  latter  in 
their  paraphrases  inserted  in  numerous  instances  be- 
fore the  Divine  names,  where  they  understood  them  to 


142  THE   MESSIAH 

indicate  the  official  delegated  Person,   and  "where  the 
context  did  not  necessarily  convey  that  meaning. 

"  The  Chaldee  paraphrases,"  says  Prideaux,  "  are 
translations  of  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  Testarnent  made 
directly  from  the  Hebrew  text  into  the  language  of  the 
Chaldeans ;  which  language  was  anciently  used  through 
all  Assyria,  Babylonia,  Mesopotamia,  Syria,  and  Pal- 
estine. These  paraphrases  are  called  Targums,  because 
they  were  versions  or  translations  of  the  Hebrew  text 
into  this  language.  These  Targums  were  made  for  the 
use  and  instruction  of  the  vulgar  Jews,  after  their  re- 
turn from  the  Babylonish  captivity.  For  although 
many  of  the  better  sort  still  retained  the  knowledge  of 
the  Hebrew  language  during  that  captivity,  and  taught 
it  their  children ;  and  the  Holy  Scriptures  that  were  de- 
livered after  that  time,  excepting  only  some  parts  of 
Daniel  and  Ezra,  and  one  verse  in  Jeremiah,  were  all 
written  therein  ;  yet  the  common  people,  by  having  so 
long  conversed  with  the  Babylonians,  learned  their  lan- 
guage and  forgot  their  own.  It  happened  indeed  other- 
wise to  the  children  of  Israel  in  Egypt.  For  although 
they  lived  there  above  three  times  as  long  as  the  Baby- 
lonish captivity  lasted,  }^et  they  still  preserved  the 
Hebrew  language  among  them,  and  brought  it  back 
entire  with  them  into  Canaan.  The  reason  of  this  was, 
in  Egypt  they  all  lived  together  in  the  land  of  Goshen ; 
but  on  their  being  carried  captive  by  the  Babylonians, 
they  were  dispersed  all  over  Chaldea  and  Assyria,  and 
being  there  intermixed  with  the  people  of  the  land,  had 
their  main  converse  with  them,  and  therefore  were 
forced  to  learn  their  language,  and  this  soon  induced  a 
disuse  of  their  own  among  them;  by  which  means  it 
came  to  pass,  that  after  their  return,  the  common  people, 
especially  those  of  them  who  had  been  bred  up  in  that 


IN   MOSES  AND   THE    PROPHETS.  143 

captivity,  understood  not  the  Holy  Scriptures  in  the 
Hebrew  language,  nor  their  posterity  after  them.  And 
therefore  when  Ezra  read  the  law  to  the  people,  (Neh. 
viii.,)  he  had  several  persons  standing  by  him  well 
skilled  in  both  the  Chaldee  and  the  Hebrew  languages, 
who  interpreted  to  the  people  in  Chaldee  what  he  first 
read  to  them  in  Hebrew.  And  afterwards,  when  the 
method  was  established  of  dividing  the  law  into  fifty- 
four  sections,  and  of  reading  one  of  them  every  week 
in  their  synagogues,  (as  hath  been  already  described,) 
the  same  course  of  reading  to  the  people  the  Hebrew 
text  first,  and  then  interpreting  it  to  them  in  Chaldee, 
was  still  continued.  For  when  the  reader  had  read  one 
verse  in  Hebrew,  an  interpreter  standing  by  did  render 
it  in  Chaldee;  and  then  the  next  verse  being  read  in 
Hebrew,  it  was  in  like  manner  interpreted  in  the  same 
language  as  before;  and  so  on  from  verse  to  verse,  was 
every  verse  alternatively  read,  first  in  Hebrew  and  then 
interpreted  in  Chaldee,  to  the  end  of  the  section ;  and 
this  first  gave  occasion  for  the  making  of  Chaldee  ver- 
sions for  the  help  of  these  interpreters.  And  they 
thenceforth  became  necessary  not  only  for  their  help  in 
the  public  synagogues,  but  also  for  the  help  of  the  peo- 
ple at  home  in  their  families,  that  they  might  there  have 
the  Scriptures  for  their  private  reading  in  a  language 
which  they  understood." 

After  further  showing  how  this  practice  was  perpetu- 
ated in  the  public  services  of  the  synagogues,  first  in 
respect  to  the  law,  and  afterwards  in  respect  to  the  pro- 
phetic and  other  Scriptures ;  and  that  as  copies  of  the 
Scriptures  both  for  public  and  private  use  were  multi- 
plied, and  the  number  of  synagogues  increased,  the 
Chaldee.  version  was  reduced  to  writing,  and  read  al- 
ternately with  the  Hebrew,  and  finally,  as  he  supposes 


144  THE    MESSIAH 

was  clone  in  the  time  of  our  Saviour,  read  without  and 
in  place  of  the  Hebrew,  he  proceeds  to  describe  the  sev- 
eral Targums  which  have  come  down  to  the  present 
time.  Of  these,  the  two  which  are  most  esteemed  are 
those  of  Onkelos  on  the  Pentateuch,  and  Jonathan  on 
the  Prophets,  which  are  supposed  to  have  been  copied 
or  essentially  derived  by  them  from  the  earlier  and  well- 
accredited  versions,  and  to  have  been  written  or  edited 
about  the  same  time,  and  not  long  before  the  commence- 
ment of  the  Christian  era.  The  Targum  of  Onkelos,  he 
observes,  is  rather  a  version  than  a  paraphrase,  for  it 
renders  the  Hebrew  text  word  for  word.  But  Jonathan, 
he  adds,  takes  on  him  the  liberty  of  a  paraphrast. 

Of  these  Targums,  and  others  of  a  later  date,  it  is 
known  that  they  exhibit  or  construe  the  predictions 
concerning  the  Messiah  in  the  same  way  as  is  done  by 
Christians.  That  of  Onkelos  in  particular,  which  is  held 
to  be  the  most  ancient  and  the  purest,  and  from  which 
Prideaux  supposes  our  Saviour  to  have  quoted  in  seve- 
ral instances,  which  he  specifies,  is  remarkable  in  this 
respect.  And  if,  as  is  supposed,  it  represents  literally 
or  substantially  the  version  which  originated  under  the 
superintendence  of  Ezra,  when,  from  the  long  disuse  of 
the  Hebrew  Scriptures  and  the  ignorance  of  the  people 
generally  of  their  meaning,  it  was  of  the  first  necessity 
to  their  instruction  and  reformation  to  explain  the  im- 
port and  reference  of  the  Divine  names  and  titles  in  the 
books  of  Moses,  where  the  prophets  and  church  of  pro- 
ceeding ages  understood  them  to  designate  the  Personal 
Word;  then  the  frequent  insertion,  before  the  names 
Jehovah  and  Elohim,  of  the  term  Memra  as  equivalent 
to  Logos,  is  a  reliable  exposition  and  attestation  of  the 
faith  of  Ezra  and  his  predecessors.  And,  apparently, 
every  consideration  is  in  favor  of  this  view  of  the  case. 


IN   MOSES   AND   THE   PROPHETS.  145 

The  word  in  question  is  inserted  before  the  words 
Jehovah  and  Elohim  where  the  creation  is  asserted,  so 
that  the  act  is  affirmed  of  the  Word,  or  the  Word  Elo- 
him, or  the  Word  Jehovah  Elohim  ;  for  which  no  rea- 
son can  be  assigned  or  justification  offered,  unless  the 
personal  reference  was  the  same  as  that  of  John  in  as- 
cribing the  creation  to  the  Logos.  By  a  like  insertion 
the  giving  of  the  law  to  Moses  at  mount  Sinai  is 
ascribed  to  the  Word  Elohim ;  speaking  to  him  face  to 
face,  to  the  Word  Jehovah ;  and  in  numerous  other 
instances,  where  personal  acts  are  affirmed,  and  where 
the  personal  reference  necessarily  includes  the  added  as 
well  as  the  original  designation.  If  this  was  done  by 
Ezra,  then  he  did  but  add  what  the  circumstances  of  his 
time  required  to  the  example  of  Moses,  who  sometimes 
referred  to  the  delegated  One,  the  personal  Word,  by 
the  single  terms,  Jehovah  and  Elohim,  and  at  others  by 
the  compound  designations,  Melach  Jehovah  and  Me- 
lach  Elohim.  In  his  case,  uniformity  in  this  respect 
was  rendered  unnecessary,  and  diversity  intelligible,  by 
the  prevalent  sentiment,  knowledge,  and  usage  of  the 
people.  On  the  contrary,  in  the  other  case,  the  igno- 
rance and  disuse  of  the  original  Hebrew,  on  the  part  of 
the  people,  rendered  it  necessary,  first  in  the  oral  trans- 
lation and  exposition,  and  afterwards  in  the  written 
versions  of  the  sacred  books,  to  insert,  at  appropriate 
places,  a  term  adapted,  like  Logos  in  the  Greek,  to  sug- 
gest, or  by  definition  and  use  to  receive  and  fix  the  re- 
quisite meaning  as  a  designation. 

There  is  in  the  nature  of  the  case  a  very  strong  prob- 
ability that  the  practice  of  inserting  this  expository 
term  in  the  Chaldee  versions  was  originally  sanctioned 
by  higher  authority  than  any  that  we  have  notice  of, 
after  the  time  of  Ezra,  or  that  of  Malachi,  who  is  by 
7 


146  THE    MESSIAH 

some  supposed  to  have  been  the  same  person  as  Ezra, 
and  by  others  to  have  been  contemporary.  Of  all  peo- 
ple, the  Jews  were  the  least  likely  to  receive  and  adopt 
such  an  expositioD  in  relation  to  the  Divine  names, 
without  the  prescription  and  sanction  of  a  prophet. 
The  supposition  of  its  having  originated  and  been 
brought  into  use  and  favor  at  a  later  period  is  wholly 
improbable,  whether  considered  in  relation  to  the  nature 
and  tendency  of  the  practice,  or  to  the  condition  of  the 
Jews  down  to  the  time  of  our  Saviour.  It  is,  in  itself, 
far  more  probable  that  the  devout  Jews  during  the  cap- 
tivity in  Babylon,  with  Ezekiel,  who  had  visions  of 
the  Personal  Word  in  the  likeness  of  man,  and  who 
appears  sometimes,  if  not  often,  to  refer  to  Him  by  the 
Hebrew  term  Dabar,  answering  to  the  Chaldee  Memra, 
Word,  or  Eevealer ;  with  Daniel,  who  had  visions  of 
the  same  delegated  one,  in  the  same  form ;  and  with 
Ezra  and  other  of  their  disciples  of  the  sacerdotal  and 
prophetic  order,  held  the  same  faith  as  the  prophets 
and  patriarchs  of  earlier  times,  concerning  the  person, 
agency,  and  manifestations  of  the  Messiah;  recognized 
him  under  the  same  designations,  and,  on  their  return  to 
Jerusalem,  adopted,  under  the  guidance  of  Ezra,  an 
additional  title,  rendered  necessary  to  the  common 
people  by  their  disuse  of  Hebrew,  and  their  use  of 
another  language,  which  was  thenceforth  to  be  their 
vulgar  tongue. 

And  if  not,  from  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  to  be 
assumed  as  needing  no  confirmation,  it  is  at  least  pro- 
bable in  the  highest  degree  that  the  Great  Eevealer 
would  in  such  a  way  provide  for  the  maintenance  and 
perpetuity  of  a  church  of  true  worshippers,  holding  the 
doctrines  and  the  faith  of  the  patriarchs  and  prophets 
concerning  his  person,  and  the  manifestations  and  titles 


IN   MOSES   AND  THE   PROPHETS.  147 

by  which  he  was  known  to  them;  a  succession  of 
devout,  instructed,  and  faithful  worshippers,  who,  at 
whatever  time  his  advent  might  take  place,  would,  on 
his  appearance  in  a  form  answering  to  that  in  which 
Abraham  and  others  saw  him,  be  ready  and  waiting, 
like  Simeon  and  Anna,  to  see  and  to  proclaim  their  re- 
cognition of  him. 

The  weight  of  this  probability  is  greatly  enhanced 
by  the  consideration,  that  the  earlier  and  principal 
agencies  and  instrumentalities  by  which  those  doctrines 
and  that  faith  had  been  maintained  were  discontinued 
prior  to  the  deportation  of  the  Jews  and  the  destruction 
of  their  temple,  and  were  never  afterwards  renewed.  ' 
For,  previous  to  these  events,  Jehovah  in  the  similitude 
of  man,  radiant  in  appearance  as  the  brightness  of  amber 
and  of  fire,  appeared  to  Ezekiel  at  his  place  of  exile, 
and  in  vision  transported  him  to  Jerusalem.  And  hav- 
ing exhibited  to  his  astonished  gaze  the  utter  desecra- 
tion of  every  part  of  the  temple  by  the  most  impious 
and  loathsome  abominations  of  idolatry;  and  having 
notified  him  of  the  tokens  by  which  the  remnant  of 
true  worshippers  was  to  be  discriminated,  and  how  they 
were  to  be  preserved ;  and  predicted  that  restoration 
which  is  yet  future ;  and  shown  for  his  own  conviction 
and  that  of  the  captives  on  his  report  to  them,  the 
grounds  and  reasons  of  his  righteous  judgments  upon 
the  rest;  and  finally  having  passed  from  the  interior 
of  the  temple  to  the  threshold,  and  assumed  the  glori- 
ous form,  with  the  cherubic  accompaniments,  in  which 
he  had  appeared  by  the  river  of  Chebar,  (chap,  i.,)  "he 
departed  from  off  the  threshold  of  the  house,  and,"  in 
the  sight  of  the  prophet,  "mounted  up  from,the  earth," 
and  afterwards  "  went  up  from  the  midst  of  the  city," 
(rather,  from  over  the  city,)  "and  stood  upon  the  moun- 


148  THE   MESSIAH 

tain  which  is  on  the  east  side  of  the  city."  "So,"  adds 
Ezckiel,  "  the  vision  that  I  had  seen  went  up  from  me." 
Ezekiel,  chap.  viii. — xi. 

Ezekiel  was  one  of  the  captives  carried  to  Babylon 
with  Jehoiachin,  B.  C.  600.  Jehoiachin  was  the  last 
who  in  due  succession  sat  on  the  throne  of  David.  He 
was  deposed  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  who  placed  Zedekiah 
on  the  throne  as  his  own  viceroy  and  vassal. 

No  one  of  the  family  of  David  ever  afterwards  reigned 
over  Judah.  The  theocratic  viceroyalty  ceased ;  the 
temporal  kingdom  of  the  house  of  David  was  dissolved. 
Jehovah,  being  rejected  by  his  covenant  people,  and 
idolatry  substituted  for  his  worship,  forsook  his  temple, 
discontinued  his  former  theocratic  relation,  ceased  to 
manifest  himself  in  the  Shekina,  and  turned  to  execute 
wrath  upon  Judah  and  Israel  for  their  idolatrous  abom- 
inations, and  upon  the  surrounding  nations  whose  idols 
they  worshipped,  and  by  whom  they  had  been  seduced 
and  oppressed. 

This  signal  procedure  was  the  sequel  of  many  clear 
and  emphatic  predictions,  and  a  long  course  of  disci- 
pline tending  to  restrain  the  whole  house  of  Israel,  and 
more  especially  the  house  of  Judah,  from  total  apostasy 
and  alienation;  and  its  occurrence  is  distinctly  noted 
by  the  prophets. 

The  reformation  and  reign  of  Hezekiah  were  suc- 
ceeded by  unprecedented  abominations  of  idolatry  dur- 
ing the  reign  of  Manasseh  his  son.  "  He  built  up  again 
the  high  places  which  Hezekiah  his  father  had  destroyed ; 
and  he  reared  up  altars  for  Baal;  and  worshipped  all 
the  host  of  heaven,  and  served  them.  And  he  built 
altars  in  the  house  of  the  Lord,  of  which  the  Lord  said, 
In  Jerusalem  will  I  put  my  name.  And  he  built  altars 
for  all  the  host  of  heaven  in  the  two  courts  of  the 


IN   MOSES   AND   THE    PROPHETS.  149 

liouse  of  the  Lord.  And  he  made  his  son  pass  through 
the  fire,  and  observed  times,  and  used  enchantments, 
and  dealt  with  familiar  spirits  and  wizards:  he  wrought 
much  wickedness  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  [his  presence 
in  the  Shekina,]  to  provoke  him  to  anger.  And  he  set 
a  graven  image  of  the  grove  [i.  e.,  the  pillar  or  statue] 
that  he  had  made,  in  the  house  of  the  Lord,"  probably 
within  the  veil  confronting  the  Shekina.  He  seduced 
the  people  "to  do  more  evil  than  did  the  nations  whom 
the  Lord  destroyed  before  the  children  of  Israel.  And 
the  Lord  spake  by  his  servants  the  prophets,  saying : 
Because  Manasseh  King  of  Judah  hath  done  these 
abominations,  and  hath  done  wickedly  above  all  that 
the  Amorites  did  which  were  before  him,  and  hath 
made  Judah  also  to  sin  with  his  idols,  therefore  thus 
saith  the  Lord  God  of  Israel :  Behold,  I  am  bringing 
such  evil  upon  Jerusalem  and  Judah,  that  whosoever 
heareth  of  it,  both  his  ears  shall  tingle.  And  I  will  stretch 
over  Jerusalem  the  line  of  Samaria,  and  the  plummet 
of  the  house  of  Ahab ;  and -I  will  wipe  Jerusalem  as 
a  man  wipeth  a  dish,  wiping  it,  and  turning  it  upside 
down.  And  I  will  forsake  the  remnant  of  mine  inherit- 
ance, and  deliver  them  into  the  hand  of  their  enemies ; 
and  they  shall  become  a  prey  and  a  spoil  to  all  their 
enemies."     2  Kings  xxi.  and  2  Chron.  xxxiii. 

Manasseh  was  succeeded  by  Amon  his  son,  "who 
did  that  which  was  evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  and 
walked  in  all  the  ways  that  his  father  walked  in,  and 
served  the  idols  that  his  father  served,  and  worshipped 
them."  2  Kings  xxi.  In  the  next  reign,  that  of  Josiah, 
a  general  reformation  was  wrought,  and  idolatry  and  its 
monuments  were  temporarily  put  away.  "Notwithstand- 
ing, the  Lord  turned  not  from  the  fierceness  of  his  great 


150  THE   MESSIAH 

wrath,  wherewith  his  anger  was  kindled  against  Judah, 
because  of  all  the  provocations  that  Manasseh  had  pro- 
voked him  withal.  And  the  Lord  said,  I  will  remove 
Judah  also  out  of  my  sight,  as  I  have  removed  Israel, 
and  will  cast  off  this  city  Jerusalem  which  I  have 
chosen,  and  the  house  of  which  I  said,  My  name  shall  be 
there."     2  Kings  xxiii. 

On  the  death  of  Josiah,  the  people  set  up  his  son 
Jehoahaz  to  be  king,  who  did  "evil  in  the  sight  of  the 
Lord,  according  to  all  that  his  fathers  had  done."  And 
at  the  end  of  three  months  he  was  deposed  by  the  King 
of  Egypt,  who  placed  in  his  stead  as  his  vassal,  another 
son  of  Josiah,  whose  name  he  changed  from  Eliakim  to 
Jehoiakim,  probably  in  derision,  substituting  the  ini- 
tial of  the  name  Jehovah  for  that  of  the  name  Elohim, 
to  indicate  his  assumed  triumph  over  the  peculiar  God 
of  the  Jewish  people. 

Jehoiakim  "did  that  which  was  evil  in  the  sight  of 
the  Lord,  according  to  all  that  his  fathers  had  done." 
From  him  the  kingdom  passed  to  his  son  Jehoiachin, 
who  at  the  end  of  three  months  was  vanquished  by  the 
King  of  Babylon  and  carried  captive  with  the  princes, 
officers,  and  most  of  the  people,  and  the  treasures  of  the 
temple.  The  kingdom  was  thus  broken  up.  Nebuchad- 
nezzar, however,  left  Zedekiah  as  his  vassal  in  charge 
of  Jerusalem.  •Under  him,  notwithstanding  the  im- 
pending destruction  of  the  city  and  temple,  "  the  chief 
of  the  priests  and  the  remaining  people  transgressed 
very  much  after  all  the  abominations  of  the  heathen, 
and  polluted  the  house  of  the  Lord  which  he  had  hal- 
lowed in  Jerusalem.  They  mocked  the  messengers  of 
God,  and  despised  his  words,  and  misused  his  prophets, 
until  the  wrath  of  the  Lord  rose  against  his  people  till 


IN   MOSES  AND  THE   PROPHETS.  151 

there  was  no  remedy;"  and  they  were  subdued,  the 
temple  and  city  burnt,  and  the  wall  of  Jerusalem 
broken  down.     2  Chron.  xxxvi. 

The  formal  abdication  and  abandonment  of  the  throne 
of  David  was  consummated  by  the  seizure  and  captivity 
of  Jehoiachin.  "As  I  live,  saith  the  Lord,  though 
Coniah  [Jehoiachin]  the  son  of  Jehoiakim  King  of 
Judah  were  the  signet  upon  my  right  hand,  yet  would 
I  pluck  thee  thence."  "O  earth,  earth,  earth,  hear  the 
word  of  the  Lord.  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  "Write  ye  this 
man  childless,  a  man  that  shall  not  prosper  in  his  days : 
for  no  man  of  his  seed  shall  prosper,  sitting  upon  the 
throne  of  David,  and  ruling  any  more  in  Judah. 
Behold,  the  days  come,  saith  the  Lord,  that  I  will  raise 
unto  David  a  righteous  branch,  and  a  king  shall  reign 
and  prosper,  and  shall  execute  judgment  and  justice  in 
the  earth.  In  his  days  Judah  shall  be  saved,  and  Israel 
shall  dwell  safely; .  and  this  is  his  name  whereby  he  shall 
be  called,  The  Lord  our  Kighteousness."  Jer.  xxiii. 
So,  before  the  capture  and  exile  of  Jehoiachin,  it  was 
announced  of  Jehoiakim  his  father,  "  He  shall  have 
none  to  sit  upon  the  throne  of  David;  and  his  dead 
body  shall  be  cast  out  in  the  day  to  the  heat,  and  in  the 
night  to  the  frost.  And  I  will  punish  him  and  his  seed, 
and  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  and  the  men  of  Judah." 
Jer.  xxxvi. 

Thus  Jehovah  in  the  most  public  and  formal  manner 
forsook  and  withdrew  from  the  temple,  and  terminated 
the  theocracy ;  the  procedure  being  attended  by  visible 
exhibitions,  and  verbal  explanations  and  announcements 
intelligible  to  Ezekiel,  and  adapted  to  qualify  him  to 
vindicate  it  to  the  captives,  and  to  foreAvarn  them  of  the 
inflictions  and  desolations  which  were  to  follow.  Ac- 
cordingly, neither  the  Shekina  nor  any  tokens  of  the 


152  THE   MESSIAH 

Divine  presence  there  afterwards  appeared.  When  the 
structure  was  demolished  by  the  Chaldeans,  the  altar 
and  all  the  interior  furniture  was  destroyed  or  removed, 
and  never  again  recovered.  In  the  new  erection  under 
Cyrus,  when  dedicated,  and  ever  after,  the  ark  of  the 
covenant  and  the  mercy-seat  upon  it,  the  Shekina,  the 
Urim  and  Thummim,  the  holy  fire  upon  the  altar,  and 
the  spirit  of  prophecy,  were  irrecoverably  wanting. 
The  construction  which  was  substituted  for  the  original 
ark  had  neither  the  tables  of  the  law  nor  any  of  its 
other  contents,  nor  any  visible  glory  over  it,  nor  oracles 
proceeding  from  it.  The  Divine  presence,  always  before 
visible  in  a  cloud  over  the  mercy-seat,  returned  no  more. 
An  imitation  altar  was  erected,  but  the  fire  which  came 
down  from  heaven  upon  the  altar  in  the  tabernacle,  and 
again  at  the  dedication  of  the  first  temple,  had  been 
extinguished,  and  was  not  again  restored.  Jehovah, 
officially,  as  prophet,  priest,  and  king,  had  withdrawn, 
not  to  reappear  till  he  should  come,  the  Messenger  of 
the  Covenant,  in  fulfilment  of  Malachi's  prediction. 

The  new  structure  therefore  was,  at  least  to  all  but 
those  whose  worship  was  purely  and  eminently  spiritual, 
a  cold,  cheerless,  and- dark  arena  of  formal  and  weari- 
some rites  and  ceremonies ;  a  lifeless  round  of  irksome 
forms,  without  any  visible  tokens  of  the  Divine  presence, 
or  of  Divine  recognition  or  acceptance ;  any  oracular 
responses,  any  fire  from  heaven,  or  other  vindications, 
confirmations,  or  sanctions  of  the  doctrines  or  faith 
professed  or  signified  by  the  services  and  offerings  of 
the  worshippers. 

Hence  the  degeneracy,  formalism,  and  h}~pocrisy 
which  subsequently  characterized  the  temple  worship, 
as  recorded  by  Malachi  and  his  contemporaries, 
and  in   the   later  history  of  the   Jews  down  to   our 


IN  MOSES   AND   THE   PROPHETS.  153 

Saviour's  time  ;  their  separation  into  discordant  sects ; 
the  renunciation  by  the  mass  of  them  of  the  divine  ' 
Mediator  and  the  doctrine  of  Mediation,  and  their  adop- 
tion exclusively  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Unity,  as  held 
by  them  to  this  day ;  and  the  necessit}r,  in  order  to  the 
maintenance  among  the  true  worshippers  of  the  doc- 
trines and  faith  of  the  patriarchs  and  prophets,  of  pro- 
viding and  perpetuating  in  their  vulgar  tongue  such 
expositions  as  were  furnished  by  the  Chaldee  paraphrasts. 

A  further  confirmation  to  the  same  effect  might  be 
deduced  from  a  consideration  of  the  results  of  the 
scheme  of  reformation  ascribed  to  Zoroaster  towards 
the  close  of  the  Babylonish  exile,  whereby  he  hoped 
to  unite  the  Jews  with  the  Chaldeans,  Persians,  &c,  in 
one  sect,  by  purging  the  Magian  system  of  worship 
from  idolatry,  restoring  it  to  what  he  held  to  be  its  prim- 
itive purity,  and  combining  with  it  the  doctrine  of  one 
supreme  creative  intelligence,  the  doctrine  of  a  resur- 
rection, and  other  tenets  of  the  Jews  which  might  be 
incorporated  in  a  system  that  neither  taught  nor  ad- 
mitted a  Mediator,  or  any  doctrine  of  Divine  or  crea- 
ture mediation.  This  artful  scheme,  which  was  more  or 
less  successful  at  the  time,  and  which,  among  those  Jews 
of  Babylon  and  the  provinces  who  did  not  return  to 
Palestine,  may  be  traced  down  for  centuries  in  the  his- 
tory of  Oriental  Gnosticism,  obviously  furnished  a  fur- 
ther reason  for  guarding  the  true  worshippers,  after  the 
period  of  exile  and  the  cessation  of  prophetic  gifts,  by 
such  means  as  the  Chaldee  versions  furnish. 

Let  it  be  further  observed,  as  not  unworthy  of  particu- 
lar notice,  that  the  Samaritans,  from  the  very  commence- 
ment of  their  history,  and  of  their  rivalship  and  hostility 
to  the  Jews,  and  the  erection  of  their  temple  on  Mount 
Gerizim,  simultaneously  with  that  of  the  restored  Jews 
7* 


154  THE   MESSIAH 

at  Jerusalem,  received  and  used  no  portion  of  the  sacred 
writings  then  extant,  except  the  books  of  Moses ;  and 
that  they  perseveringly  rejected  all  traditions,  and  all 
glosses  and  comments  on  the  original  text.  And  yet 
from  the  saying  of  the  Samaritan  woman,  "  I  know 
that  Messiah  cometli ;  (that  is,  the  Christ,  the  Anointed ;) 
when  he  is  come,  he  will  teach  us  all  things,"  it 
would  seem  that,  down  to  our  Saviour's  time,  they 
understood  the  true  doctrine  concerning  his  person,  his 
incarnation,  and  the  titles  by  which  he  would  be  dis- 
tinguished. When  told  that  he  who  was  then  present 
in  the  form  of  man,  and  who  spoke  to  her,  was  the 
Messiah,  she  manifested  no  surprise  or  doubt.  Many  of 
the  Samaritans  believed  in  him  on  her  testimony. 
"And  many  more  believed  because  of  what  they  heard 
from  himself,"  and  said,  "We  know  that  this  is  truly 
the  Saviour  of  the  World,  the  Messiah."    {Campbell.) 

Now,  since  they  held  no  intercourse  with  the  Jews, 
and,  from  prejudice  and  hostility,  would  learn  nothing 
from  them ;  and  since  they  received  only  the  Pentateuch 
and  rejected  all  traditions,  it  would  seem  that  they 
must  from  the  beginning  of  their  historv  have  under- 
stood  the  Mosaic  writings  to  teach  those  doctrines ;  and 
from  continual  study  of  them  as  the  only  source  of  their 
religious  knowledge,  hopes  and  expectations,  must  have 
perpetuated  the  sentiments  with  which  they  originally 
received  them. 

"That  the  sentiments  of  the  woman  who  conversed 
at  the  well  with  Christ  were  the  same  with  those  of  the 
Samaritans  in  general,  will  not  admit  of  a  doubt ;  for 
from  whence  could  a  common  person  like  her  have  ob- 
tained the  information  she  discovers  on  several  points 
relating  to  the  Messiah,  unless  from  popular  traditions 
current  amongst  those  of  her  own  nation  ?     These  senti- 


IN   MOSES  AND  THE   PROPHETS.  155 

merits  then  furnish  us  with  a  strong  argument  in  answer 
to  those  who  contend  that  the  more  ancient  Hebrews 
entertained  no  expectation  of  a  Messiah,  but  that  this 
hope  first  sprang  up  amongst  the  Jews  some  short  time 
before  the  coming  of  our  Saviour.  So  deep  and  inve- 
terate was  the  enmity  which  subsisted  between  the 
Jews  and  the  Samaritans,  that  it  is  utterly  incredible 
that  a  hope  of  this  kind  should  have  been  communi- 
cated from  either  of  them  to  the  other.  It  necessarily 
follows,  therefore,  that  as  both  of  them  were,  at  the  time 
of  our  Saviour's  birth,  looking  for  the  appearance  of  a 
Messiah  from  above,  they  must  have  derived  the  expec- 
tation from  one  common  source,  doubtless  the  books  of 
Moses  and  the  discipline  of  their  ancestors ;  and  conse- 
quently that  this  hope  was  entertained  long  before  the 
Babylonish  captivity,  and  the  rise  of  the  Samaritans. 
I  mention  only  the  books  of  Moses,  because  it  is  well 
known  that  the  Samaritans  did  not  consider  any  of  the 
other  writings  of  the  Old  Testament  as  sacred  or  of 
Divine  original ;  and  it  is  therefore  not  at  all  likely  that 
any  information  which  they  might  possess  respecting 
the  Messiah  that  was  to  come  should  have  been  drawn 
from  any  other  source.  In  the  discourse  of  the  Sama- 
ritan woman,  we  likewise  discover  what  were  the  senti- 
ments of  the  ancient  Hebrews  respecting  the  Messiah. 
The  expectation  of  the  Jews  at  the  time  of  our  Saviour's 
coming  was,  as  we  have  seen,  directed  towards  a  war- 
like leader,  a  hero,  an  emperor,  who  should  recover  for 
the  oppressed  posterity  of  Abraham  their  liberty  and 
rights ;  but  the  Samaritans,  as  appears  from  the  con- 
versation of  this  woman,  looked  forward  to  the  Messiah 
in  the  light  of  a  spiritual  teacher  and  guide,  who  should  in- 
struct them  in  a  more  perfect  and  acceptable  way  of  serv- 
ing God  than  that  which  they  then  followed.     Now  the 


156  THE   MESSIAH 

Samaritans  had  always  kept  themselves  entirely  distinct 
from  the  Jews,  and  would  never  consent  to  adopt  any 
point  of  doctrine  or  discipline  from  them  ;  and  the  con- 
sequence was,  that  the  ancient  opinion  respecting  the 
Messiah  had  been  retained  in  much  greater  purity  by 
the  former  than  by  the  Jews,  whose  arrogance  and  im- 
patience under  the  calamities  to  which  they  were  ex- 
posed, had  brought  them  by  degrees  to  turn  their  backs 
on  the  opinions  entertained  by  their  forefathers  on  this 
subject,    and   to   cherish   the  expectation  that,  in  the 
Messiah  promised  to  them  by  God,  they  should  have  to 
hail  an  earthly  prince  and  deliverer.     Lastty,  I  think  it 
particularly  deserving  of  attention,  that  it  is  clear  from 
what  is  said  by  this  woman,  that  the  Samaritans  did  not 
consider  the  Mosaic  Law  in  the  light  of  a  permanent 
establishment,  but  expected  that  it  would  pass  away, 
and  its  place  be  supplied  by  a  more  perfect  system  of 
discipline  on  the  coming  of  the  Messiah.     For  when  she 
hears  our  Saviour  predict  the  downfall  of  the  Samaritan 
as  well  as  the  Jewish  religion,  instead  of  taking  fire  at 
his  words,  and  taxing  him,  after  the  Jewish  manner, 
with    blasphemy    against     God    and    against    Moses, 
(Acts  vi.  13-15,)  she  answers  with  mildness  and  com- 
posure that  she  knew  the  Messiah  would  come,  and  was 
not  unapprised  that  the  religion  of  her  ancestors  would 
then  undergo  a  change."  (Mosheim,  Int.  Com.  chap.  2.) 
The  Jews,  on  the  contrary,  as  is  hereafter  more  particu- 
larly observed,  had  renounced  the  Divine  Mediator  and 
the  entire  doctrine  of  mediation  between  God  and  man. 
They  did  not  expect  the  promised  Messiah  in  the  character 
of  Mediator,  but,  holding  no  distinction  of  persons  in  the 
Godhead,   they  gloried  in  the  doctrine  of  the    Unity ; 
believed  the  Mosaic  Law  and  institutions  would  be  per- 
petual, and  trusted  to  their  observance  of  them  for  salva- 


IN   MOSES  AND  THE   PROPHETS.  157 

tion.  It  were  "easy  to  multiply  citations  to  show  that 
they  still  entertain  those  views.  A  single  instance  may 
suffice.  In  the  London  Jewish  Chronicle  for  May, 
1852,  the  chief  Eabbi  of  the  great  synagogue,  in  a 
sermon  on  the  first  day  of  the  Feast  of  Weeks,  is  quoted 
as  saying:  "A  man  who  has  a  royal  patron,  when  in 
distress  applies  first  to  the  Minister,  to  know  if  an 
audience  will  be  granted  ;  but  with  respect  to  God,  if 
man  is  in  trouble  he  wants  no  Mediator,  or  angels,  but 
calls  to  God  alone,  and  he  shall  be  heard.  And  this 
cheering  belief  in  the  unity  of  God  is  quieting  to  the 
mind." 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Citations  from  the  Chaldee  Paraphrases. 

The  earliest  Chaldee  paraphrases  which  have  been 
handed  down  are  supposed  to  have  been  compiled  or 
written  about  the  time  of  the  first  advent,  when  the 
true  worshippers  maybe  supposed  to  have  been  anxious 
to  revive  and  spread  abroad  the  knowledge  of  them  in 
such  manner  as  to  induce  the  Jews  of  that  period  to 
recognize  the  Messiah  in  the  incarnate  Word.  The  fol- 
lowing testimonies  from  those  writings  of  the  sentiments 
of  the  Jewish  Church  concerning  the  Messiah  as  under- 
stood by  them  to  be  revealed  in  the  ancient  Scriptures, 
and  his  identity  with  the  Messenger  Jehovah,  are,  for 
the  sake  of  his  comments,  taken  from  Faber's  Hone 
Mosaicce : 

"  When  the  text  reads,  They  heard  the  voice  of  the  Lord 


158  THE   MESSIAH 

God  walMng  in  the  garden,  the  Targums  explain  the 
passage  to  mean :  They  heard  the  "Word  of  the  Lord  God 
walking ;  or,  somewhat  more  fully,  they  heard  the  voice  of 
the  "Word  of  the  Lord  God  walking.  In  point  of  gram- 
matical construction,  even  the  modern  Jews  allow  that 
the  participle  walking  agrees  with  the  voice,  and  not 
with  the  Lord  God.  But  walking  is  the  attribute  of  a 
person.  Therefore  the  Targums  rightly  gave  the  sense 
of  the  original  when  they  introduced  the  Word  as  the 
judge  of  our  first  parents." 

The  exclamation  of  Eve,  I  have  gotten  a  man  from 
the  Lord,  they  render,  "I have  obtained  the  man,  the  angel 
of  Jehovah  !  Now,  since  Jehovah  is  the  word  used  in  the 
original,  it  is  difficult  to  account  for  this  paraphrastic 
exposition,  unless  we  conclude  that,  at  the  time  when  it 
was  written,  the  Jews  believed  the  angel  of  Jehovah  to 
be  himself  Jehovah,  and  expected  him  to  be  born  in- 
carnate." 

"  To  this  opinion  we  shall  the  rather  incline,  if  we 
attend  to  another  paraphrastic  interpretation.  The  sacred 
text  reads :  Ln  that  day  shall  Jehovah  of  hosts  be  for  a 
crown  of  glory,  and  for  a  diadem  of  beauty  unto  the  residue 
of  his  people.  But  the  Targum  of  Jonathan  reads :  Ln 
that  day  shall  the  Messiah  of  Jehovah  of  hosts  be  for  a  crown 
of  glory.  Jonathan,  however,  could  never  have  thus 
explained  the  passage,  unless  he  had  believed  that  the 
future  Messiah  would  be  Jehovah  incarnate  ;  nor  would 
he  have  hazarded  so  extraordinary  an  interpretation, 
unless  he  had  been  fully  conscious  of  speaking  the  gene- 
ral sentiments  of  his  contemporaries.  It  is  well  known 
that  the  Jews  so  highly  venerate  the  Targum  of  this 
writer,  as  to  deem  it  something  divine ;  yet  we  see  that 
Jonathan  identifies  the  Messiah  with  Jehovah  himself. 
The  doctrine  in  question  still  prevailed  among  the  Jews 


IN   MOSES   AND   THE    PROPHETS.  159 

at  the  time  when  Justin  Martyr  flourished,  as  is 
manifest  from  his  direct  appeal  to  Trypho.  If  we  'pro- 
duce to  them,  says  he,  those  scriptures  formerly  rehearsed 
to  you,  ivhich  expressly  show  that  the  Messiah  is  both  subject 
to  suffering,  and  yet  is  the  adorable  God,  they  are  under  a 
necessity  of  acknowledging  that  these  respect  the  Christ.  So 
that  while  they  assert  that  Jesus  is  not  the  Christ,  they  still 
confess  that  the  Christ  himself  shall  come,  and  suffer,  and 
reign,  and  be  the  adorable  God:  ivhich  conduct  of  theirs  is 
truly  most  absurd  and  contradictory.  I  need  scarcely 
remark,  that  Justin  could  never  have  hazarded  such 
language  to  a  Hebrew  antagonist,  unless  he  knew  that 
he  had  very  good  ground  for  what  he  said. 

"  But  to  return  to  the  Targums,  where  the  text  reads : 
Let  not  God  speak  with  us,  lest  we  die,  the  interpretation 
of  Onkelos  runs,  Let  not  the  Word  from  before  the  Lord 
speak  with  us.  So  likewise  where  the  text  reads,  She 
called  the  name  of  Jehovah  that  sjmlce  unto  her,  Thou  God 
seest  me,  the  Targum  of  Jonathan  runs,  She  confessed 
before  the  Lord  Jehovah,  whose  Word  had  spoken  unto  her. 
And  the  Targum  of  Jerusalem,  She  confessed  and  prayed 
to  the  Word  of  the  Lord  who  had  appeared  to  her.  Now 
the  person  who  appeared  to  Hagar  was  the  angel  of 
Jehovah.  The  paraphrasts  therefore  identify  the  Word 
and  the  Angel.  Hence  it  is  plain  that  by  the  Word  of 
God  they  do  not  mean  a  speech  uttered  by  God,  but 
that  they  use  the  term  to  express  a  real  person.  By 
this  personal  Word  they  understood  the  Messiah ;  as  is 
evident  from  Jonathan's  interpretation  of  the  text, 
Jehovah  said  unto  my  Lord,  Sit  thou  at  my  right  hand. 
He  explains  its  purport  to  be,  Jehovah  said  unto  his  Word. 
But  it  is  manifest  from  our  Saviour's  conversation  with 
the  Pharisees  relative  to  the  nature  and  parentage  of 
the  Messiah,  that  they  acknowledge  this  text  to  relate 


160  THE   MESSIAH 

to  him  ;  and  it  appears  from  the  Midrash  Tillim  that 
such  an  application  is  fully  recognized  by  the  Jewish 
Rabbins.  Hence  the  inference  is  inevitable,  that  the 
Hebrew  doctors  confess  the  Messiah  to  be  the  Word  of 
God  or  the  angel  of  Jehovah.  And  hence  we  shall  at 
once  perceive  why  St.  John  so  pointedly  bestows  the 
title  upon  his  divine  Master.  He  did  but  employ  the 
usual  phraseology  of  his  countrymen  respecting  the 
promised  Messiah  ;  yet,  by  applying  the  name  of  Jesus 
of  Nazareth,  he  at  once  declared  him  to  be  the  Messiah, 
and  that  angel  of  Jehovah  who  was  confessedly  the  God 
both  of  the  Patriarchal  and  of  the  Levitical  Church. 

"Agreeably  to  this  obvious  conclusion,  the  Targums 
exhibit  the  Word  with  ail  the  characteristics  of  the 
expected  Messiah. 

"  They  describe  him  as  the  Mediator  between  God  and 
man. 

"  Thus,  in  paraphrasing  a  text  from  Deuteronomy  iv.  7, 
Jonathan  writes :  God  is  near  in  the  name  of  the  Word  of 
Jehovah;  in  paraphrasing  a  text  of  Hosea  iv. 9,  God  will 
receive  the  prayer  of  Israel  by  his  Word,  and  have  mercy 
upon  them,  and  ivill  make  them  by  his  Word  like  a  beautiful 
fig  tree.  And  in  paraphrasing  a  text  of  Jeremiah  xxix.l-i: 
I  iv  ill  be  sought  by  you  in  my  Word,  and  I  will  be  inquired 
of  by  you  through  my  Word.  Thus  likewise  where 
Abraham  is  said  by  Moses  to  have  called  on  the  name  of 
Jehovah  the  everlasting  God,  he  is  described  by  the  Tar- 
gum  of  Jerusalem  as  praying  in  the  name  of  the  Word  of 
Jehovah,  the  God  of  the  world. 

"They  speak  of  him  as  making  atonement  for  sin. 

"Thus,  in  paraphrasing  a  text  of  Deuteronomy, 
(xxxii.  43,)  Jonathan  writes:  God  will  atone  by  his  Word 
for  Ins  land  and  for  his  people,  even  a  people  saved  by  the 
Word  of  Jehovah. 


IN    MOSES   AND   THE    PEOPHETS.  161 

"  They  exhibit  him  as  a  Redeemer. 

"  Thus  the  text  from  Genesis  xlix.  18,  /  have  waited 
for  thy  salvation,  0  Jehovah,  is  paraphrased  as  follows 
in  the  Jerusalem  Targum  :  Our  father  Jacob  said  tit  us: 
My  .soul  expects  not  the  redemption  of  Gideon  the  son  of 
Joash,  which  is  a  temporal  salvation  ;  nor  the  redemption  of 
Samson,  vJtich  is  a  transitory  salvation;  but  the  redemp- 
tion which  thou  didst  promise  should  come  through  thy 
Word  to  thy  people.  This  salvation  my  soid  waits  for. 
Thus  the  same  text  is  paraphrased  by  Jonathan  with 
a  direct  application  to  the  Messiah ;  whence  again  we 
find  it  to  be  the  established  doctrine  of  the  ancient 
Hebrew  Church,  that  the  Messiah  and  the  Word  were 
the  same  person.  Our  father  Jacob  said :  /  do  not 
expect  the  deliverance  of  Gideon  the  son  of  Joash,  which  is  a 
temporal  salvation  ;  nor  that  of  Samson  the  son  of  Manoah, 
which  is  a  transient  salvation;  but  I  expect  the  redemption 
of  Messiah  the  son  of  David,  who  shall  come  to  gather  to 
himself  the  children  of  Israel. 

"  The  Targums  of  Onkelos  and  Jonathan  were  written 
immediately  before  the  time  of  Christ,  and  among  the 
Jews  they  are  in  such  high  esteem,  that  they  hold  them 
to  be  of  the  same  authority  with  the  original  text.  Of 
this  extravagant  honor  the  ground  is,  that  those  two 
interpreters  committed  to  writing  the  ancient  oral  tradi- 
tions, which  [they  supposed]  had  come  down  in  regular 
descent  from  their  first  communication  to  Moses  on  the 
top  of  Mount  Sinai. 

"^Such  an  opinion  proves  at  least  the  high  antiquity 
of  the  sentiments  contained  in  those  Targums ;  and,  as 
the  Targums  themselves  were  composed  before  the 
Christian  era,  they  must  clearly  be  viewed  as  exhibiting 
the  doctrine  of  the  Levitical  Church  ere  an  inveterate 


162  THE    MESSIAH 

hatred  of  the  gospel  led  to  a  suppression  or  conceal- 
ment of  the  ancient  faith. 

"The  later  Targums  were  written  subsequent  to  the 
time  of  our  Lord;  but  so  far  as  regards  the  present 
argument,  their  importance  is  not  the  less  on  that 
account.  Those  of  Onkelos  and  Jonathan  show  the 
tenets  of  the  Hebrew  Church  before  Christ ;  those  which 
are  later  prove,  by  their  accordance  with  their  prede- 
cessors, that  the  same  doctrine  continued  in  full  force 
during  the  first  centuries  after  the  Christian  era.  Thus, 
notwithstanding  Jesus  of  Nazareth  was  denied  to  be 
the  Messiah,  the  Jews,"  [meaning  of  course  the-  old 
school,  orthodox  party,]  "it  is  plain  from  the  written 
evidence  of  the  later  Targums,  did  not  immediately 
depart  from  the  sentiments  of  their  forefathers  relative 
to  the  character  of  the  Messiah." 

After  quoting  testimonies  from  different  Jewish 
Rabbins,  he  observes:  "The  reason  why  the  Rabbins 
pronounced  the  Messiah  to  be  Jehovah,  was  this  :  Fol- 
lowing the  ancient  Targums,  which  spoke  the  univer- 
sally received  doctrines  of  the  Hebrew  Church,  they 
perceived,  like  the  authors  of  those  Targums,  that  the 
Messiah  was  the  same  person  as  the  anthropomorphic 
"Word,  or  Angel  of  Jehovah.  But  they  knew  that  the 
Angel  of  Jehovah  was  the  God  of  Abraham  and  of 
Isaac  and  of  Jacob.  And  they  were  assured  that  their 
pious  forefathers  did  not  idolatrously  worship  a  creature, 
but  that  they  venerated  the  self-existent  God,  Jehovah. 
Hence  they  rightly  determined  that  Jehovah  was  the 
name  of  the  Messiah.  This  will  appear  very  distinctly, 
if  we  attend  to  their  doctrine  respecting  the  great  angel 
whom  the}'  cabalistically  denominated  Metraton."  (Vol. 
2,  sec.  1,  chap,  iii.) 


IN    MOSES    AND   THE   PROPHETS.  163 

The  reader  will  observe  that  this  author  construes 
the  formulas  Melach  Jehovah,  Memra  Jehovah,  &c,  in 
the  same  way  as  our  translation,  Angel  of  the  Lord, 
"Word  of  the  Lord,  &c. ;  and  while  correctly  holding 
that  the  Angel  or  Messenger,  and  the  Logos,  Memra, 
or  Word,  are  personally  identical  with  Jehovah,  still 
indicates  a  distinction,  as  though  the  former  persons 
were  sent  by  the  latter.  This  is  undoubtedly  incon- 
sistent and  unauthorized.  Had  he  in  his  construction 
left  out  the  preposition  of  as  the  original  does,  all  would 
have  been  clear. 

The  following  extracts  are  collected  from  Dr.  J.  P. 
Smith's  work,  The  Scripture  Testimony  to  the  Messiah. 
*  Onkelos  renders  Jacob's  prediction  of  Shiloh,  Gen. 
xlix.,  "  The  Messiah  whose  is  the  kingdom."  The  Jeru- 
salem Targum,  "  The  King  Messiah  ichose  is  the  ~kingdomP 
Jonathan  on  Sam.  xxiii.  1-7:  "  The  God  of  Israel  spoke 
with  respect  to  me ;  the  Rock  of  Israel,  the  Sovereign  of 
the  sons  of  men,  the  true  Judge,  hath  spoken  to  appoint 
me  King;  for  He  is  the  Messiah  that  shall  be,  who  shall 
arise  and  rule  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord."  The  Chaldee 
and  other  Targums  generally  refer  the  2d  Psalm  to  the 
Messiah.  Also  the  loth  Psalm,  v.  2  :  "  Thy  beauty,  O 
King  Messiah,  is  preeminent  above  the  sons  of  men.'' 
Jonathan  renders  Isaiah  xxiii.  5:  "Behold,  the  days 
are  coming,  saith  the  Lord,  when  I  will  raise  up  to  David 
the  Messiah  of  the  Righteous,  and  he  shall  reign,"  &c. 
And  xxxiii.  15 :  "In  those  days  and  in  that  time,  I  will 
raise  up  to  David  the  Messiah  of  righteousness,"  &c. 
And  Micah  v.  1:  "And  thou,  Bethlehem,  out  of  thee 
shall  proceed  in  my  presence  the  Messiah  to  exercise 
sovereignty  over  Israel,  whose  name  has  been  called 
from  eternity,  from  the  days  of  the  everlasting  period." 
Zech.  iii.  8 :    "  Behold,  I  bring  forth  my  servant  the 


164  THE    MESSIAH 

Messiah,  and  he  shall  be  revealed."  And  vi.  12:  "Be- 
hold a  man,  Messiah  is  his  name,  ready  that  he  may  be 
revealed  and  may  spring  forth,  and  may  build  the  tem- 
ple of  Jah." 

The  Jerusalem  Targum,  referring  to  Abraham  when 
Jehovah  appeared  to  him  as  a  man,  sa}rs:  "The  Word 
of  Jehovah  [Memra  Jehovah]  appeared  to  him  in  the 
Valley  of  Vision."  Jonathan  on  Isaiah  xlviii.  12:  "  Obey 
my  Word ;"  and  13  :  "Even  by  my  Word  I  have  founded 
the  earth  ;"  xlix.  16  :  "  My  Word  will  not  reject  thee." 
Jer.  xxix.  23  :  "Before  me  it  is  unveiled,  and  my  Word 
is  witness  ;"  xxxi.  4  :  "  For  my  "Word  is  to  Israel  as  a 
Father ;"  xxxii.  40 :  "  My  Word  shall  not  turn  away 
from  following  them  to  do  them  good,  and  my  Word 
shall  rejoice  over  them  to  do  them  good."  Ezek.  xx.  12  : 
"I  gave  them  my  Sabbath  days,  to  be  for  a  sign  between 
my  Word  and  them,  that  they  may  know  that  I  am  Jah 
who  sanctify  them."  The  Targumists  generally  sub- 
stitute the  word  Jah  for  Jehovah.  Jonathan  on  Gen. 
v.  26:  "That  was  the  generation  in  whose  daj-s  they 
began  to  apostatize,  and  made  to  themselves  falsehoods, 
[or  idols,]  and  named  their  falsehoods  by  the  name  of 
the  Word  of  Jah."  Jer.  Tar.  on  Exodus  vi.  2  :  "And 
Jah  was  revealed  by  his  Word  to  Abraham,  to  Isaac,  and 
to  Jacob."  Var.  Tar.  Isaiah  xliii.  2  :  "  In  ancient  time, 
when  ye  passed  through  the  Red  Sea,  my  Word  was  for 
your  help  ;"  xlv.  17  :  "Israel  shall  be  delivered  by  the 
Word  of  Jah,  with  an  everlasting  deliverance;"  v.  25: 
"By  the  Word  of  Jah  shall  all  the  seed  of  Israel  be  de- 
clared righteous,  and  shall  glory;"  Ixiii.  8  :  "My  people 
are  they,  sons  who  will  not  deal  falsely ;  and  his  Word 
was  their  Redeemer;"  v.  13:  "He  led  them  through  the 
deep:  the  Word  of  Jah  led  them."  Jer.  vi.  8  :  "Be 
admonished,  O  Jerusalem,  lest  my  Word  cast  thee  off.'' 


IN   MOSES  AND   THE    PROPHETS.  165 

Hosea  xiv.  9  :  "I  by  my  Word  will  accept  the  prayer  of 
Israel."  Zach.  vi.  7 :  "Not  by  force,  nor  by  power, 
but  by  my  Word,  saith  Jah  of  hosts.  And  he  will 
reveal  the  Messiah  whose  name  is  spoken  from  eternity, 
and  he  shall  reign  over  all  kingdoms." 

The  author  quotes  the  following  from  Dr.  By  land  and 
the  Prolegomena  to  Walton's  Polyglot:  "There  are 
many  passages  of  the  Chaldee  Paraphrasts  which  could 
have  been  derived  only  from  the  remains  of  the  expo- 
sitions and  doctrines  delivered  by  the  prophets.  They 
have  many  things  concerning  the  Word  of  God,  by 
whom  the  universe  was  created,  &c,  and  which  admirably 
confirm  the  declarations  of  St.  John  upon  the  Logos, 
and  prove  that  in  so  designating  the  Messiah  or  Son  of 
God,  the  Evangelist  employed  a  name  already  in  fami- 
liar use  among  the  Jews,  as  received  from  their  ances- 
tors, though  not  perfectly  understood  by  all  among 
them.  To  this  Word  the  Jerusalem  Targum  on  Gen. 
i.  27  attributes  creation  :  '  The  Word  of  the  Lord  cre- 
ated man.'  And  xxxii.  22 :  And  the  Word  of  the 
Lord  said,  Behold  Adam  whom  I  have  created.'  Jon 
athan  on  Deut.  xxxii.  39,  says :  '  When  will  the  Word 
of  the  Lord  be  manifested  to  redeem  his  people  ?'  The 
same  Targum  on  Gen.  xix.  24,  ascribes  to  the  Word  of 
the  Lord  the  sending  down  of  sulphur  and  fire  on  Sodom 
and  Gomorrah :  '  Sulphur  and  fire  were  sent  down 
upon  it  from  the  Word  of  the  Lord  out  of  heaven.' 
So  likewise  Onkelos :  'And  the  Word  of  the  Lord  re- 
turned.' And  on  Gen.  v.  24  :  '  Enoch  was  taken  away 
by  the  Word  before  the  Lord.'  So  the  Jerusalem, 
Deut.  xviii.  19:  'My  Word  will  take  vengeance  upon 
him.'  So  Onkelos  and  Jonathan.  The  passages  are 
innumerable  in  which  actions  and  properties  are  attri- 
buted to  the  Word  of  God,  as  a  distinct  Person." 


166  THE   MESSIAH 

Again,  quoting  Owen  as  referred  to  by  Kyland  :  "  The 
Chaldee  Paraphrast,  observing  that  some  especial  pre- 
sence of  God  is  expressed  in  the  words,  Gen.  iii.  8, 
renders  them,  'And  they  heard  the  voice  of  the  Word 
of  the  Lord  God  walking  in  the  garden.'  So  all  the 
Targums.  And  that  of  Jerusalem  begins  the  next 
verse  accordingly :  And  the  Word  of  the  Lord  God 
called  unto  Adam.'  And  this  expression  they  after- 
wards make  use  of  in  places  innumerable ;  and  that  in 
such  a  way  as  plainly  to  denote  a  distinct  Person  in  the 
Deity.  That  this  was  their  intention  in  it,  is  hence  man- 
ifest ;  because  about  the  time  of  the  writing  of  the  first 
of  those  Targums  which  gave  the  rule  of  speaking  unto 
them  that  followed,  it  was  usual  amongst  them  to  ex- 
press their  conceptions  of  the  Son  of  God  by  the  name 
of  the  Logos,  or  Word  of  God.'  "  {Owen  on  Iflpisk  Heb. 
Vol.  1.) 

"At  this  time,  there  was  nothing  more  common 
among  the  Hebrews  than  to  denote  the  second  subsist- 
ence of  the  Deity  by  the  name  of  the  Word  of  God. 
They  were  now  divided  into  two  great  parts :  first  the 
inhabitants  of  Canaan,  with  the  regions  adjoining,  and 
many  old  remnants  in  the  East,  who  used  the  Syro- 
Chaldean  language,  being  but  one  dialect  of  the  Hebrew ; 
and  secondly,  the  dispersions  under  the  Greek  empire, 
who  are  commonly  called  Hellenists,  and  also  used  the 
Greek  tongue.  And  both  these  sorts  did  usually,  in 
their  several  languages,  describe  the  second  Person  in 
the  Trinity  by  the  name  of  the  Word  of  God.  For  the 
former  sort,  or  those  who  used  the  Syro-Chaldean 
dialect,  we  have  an  eminent  proof  of  it  in  the  transla- 
tion of  the  Scripture  which,  at  least  some  part  of  it, 
was  made  about  this  time  amongst  them,  commonly 
called  the  Chaldee  Paraphrase ;  in  the  whole  whereof 


IN   MOSES   AJSTD   THE    PEOPHETS.  167 

tlie  second  Person  is  mentioned  under  the  name  of 
Memra  dejeja,  or  the  Word  of  God.  Hereunto  are  all 
personal  properties  and  all  divine  works  in  that  trans- 
lation assigned  ;  with  an  illustrious  testimony  to  the 
faith  of  the  old  Church  concerning  the  distinct  subsist- 
ence of  a  plurality  of  Persons  in  the  Divine  nature. 
And  for  the  Hellenists  who  wrote  and  expressed  them- 
selves in  the  Greek  tongue,  they  used  the  name  Logos, 
the  Word  of  God,  to  the  same  purpose :  as  I  have  else- 
where manifested  out  of  the  writings  of  Philo,  who 
lived  about  this  time,  between  the  death  of  our  Saviour 
and  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem/'     (Oiven,  Vol.  2.) 

It  will  be  observed  that  in  all  the  translations  of  the 
Targums,  and  in  the  comments  of  Byland  and  Owen, 
the  same  usage  is  exhibited  as  in  our  translation,  of  mak- 
ing the  Jehovah  the  genitive  of  the  official  appellative 
which  precedes  it.  Hence  the  mystery  and  confusion 
which  have  so  generally  been  thought  to  ■  attend  the 
official  designations  of  the  Old  Testament.  But  if  it  be 
considered  that  in  the  use  of  the  terms  Logos,  Dabar, 
and  Memra,  where  a  personal  reference  is  intended,  the 
abstract  is  put  for  the  concrete,  as  Word  for  Revealer, 
so  that  where  these  words  are  coupled  with  Jehovah 
the  reading  should  be  The  Revealer,  or  The  Revealing 
Jehovah, — as  in  the  case  of  Melach  Jehovah,  the  reading 
should  be,  The  Messenger,  or  The  Sent  or  delegated  Jehovah, 
or  the  Messenger  who  is  Jehovah,' — the  use  of  those 
terms  as  personal  designations  will  suggest  no  difficulty. 


168  THE   MESSIAH 


CHAPTER   XV. 


ex- 


Reasons  of  the  Failure  of  the  modern  versions  of  the  Scriptures  to 
hibit  clearly  the  Hebrew  designations  of  the  Messiah — The  Masoretic 
Punctuation — Reference  to  the  term  Melach  and  the  formula  Melach 
Jehovah. 

But  if,  in  the  ancient  dispensations,  the  Messenger 
Jehovah,  the  delegated  official  Person,  Messiah,  was,  in 
all  relations,  the  actor,  administrator,  and  revealer;  if 
Moses  and  the  prophets  wrote  intelligibly  of  Him ;  if 
they  recognized  and  acknowledged  him  under  all  the 
Divine  designations,  why,  it  may  naturally  be  asked, 
did  not  the  authors  of  the  English  and  other  modern 
■  versions  so  understand,  and  in  their  translations  con- 
strue and  represent  them  ?  An  answer  to  this  question, 
in  all  its  bearings,  probably  no  one  now  would  be  in- 
clined to  undertake.  But  in  certain,  and  perhaps  the 
most  important  respects,  it  admits  of  a  satisfactory  an- 
swer. The  translators,  from  the  prescribed  or  custom- 
ary and  popular  course  of  theological  study  and  opinion, 
which  aimed  to  avoid,  with  the  arrogant  assumptions 
and  pretensions  of  Eomanism,  the  gentile  heresies  of  the 
whole  Papal  history,  were  led  to  entertain  an  overween- 
ing and  ill-founded  confidence  in  the  modern  Jews  as 
interpreters  of  their  own  Scriptures ;  that  is,  of  the  Jewish 
authors  who  flourished,  and  whose  works  were  published, 
after  the  establishment  of  Papal  domination  and  intol- 
erance, and  of*  Mohammedan  ravage  and  proscription. 
That  school  of  Jewish  authors  was  not  only  more  modern, 
but  widely  different  in  respect  to  their  theological  doc- 


IN   MOSES   AND   THE   PROPHETS.  169 

trines  from  the  Chaldee  paraphrasts,  especially  in  regard 
to  the  Messiah ;  and  may  be  comprehensively  described 
as  including  the  Talmudists,  the  Masoretic  doctors,  and 
their  rabbinical  disciples  and  followers  of  various  names. 
The  productions  of  these  Jewish  authors  were  numerous 
and  readily  accessible  at  the  period  of  the  revival  of 
learning  in  Europe,  and  in  the  sixteenth  century  were 
brought  into  notice  and  favor  especially  by  the  elder 
Buxtorf,  in  connection  with  his  edition  of  the  Hebrew 
Bible,  and  his  lexicons,  grammar,  and  various  works 
relating  to  Masoretic  and  rabbinical  literature.  He  seems 
to  have  entered  with  enthusiasm  into  the  study  of  this 
school  of  Jewish  writers ;  and,  with  respect  at  least  to 
the  later  and  best  known  portion  of  them,  as  the  clue  to 
their  sentiments  was  furnished  by  their  use  of  the  Ma- 
soretic points,  he  embraced  their  system  in  that  respect, 
and  inculcated  and  defended  the  application  of  it  to  the 
text  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  with  earnestness,  perse- 
verance, and  success.  His  example  was  followed.  The 
use  of  the  points  facilitated  the  study  of  the  language ; 
and  for  that  reason,  as  well  as  because  they  were  sup- 
posed to  be  safe  guides  in  respect  to  the  reference  and 
meaning  of  words,  they  became  popular  with  the  learned 
and  with  students.  Instead  of  being  regarded  as  having 
the  effect  of  a  translation  and  commentary,  and  thereby 
fastening  on  the  text  the  constructions  and  opinions  of 
their  authors,  whether  erroneous  or  otherwise,  they  were 
regarded  primarily  in  a  grammatical  point  of  view,  and 
as  indicating  the  vowels  supposed  to  be  proper  to  Hebrew 
words,  in  addition  to  the  letters  originally  composing 
them. 

But  this  system  of  punctuation  has  unavoidably  the 
effect  of  a  version  or  comment.  Its  office  is  essentially 
that  of  an  exponent  of  the  constructions  and  opinions 


170  THE   MESSIAH 

of  its  authors,  and  as  such  it  can  be  no  further  correct 
and  reliable  than  their  theological,  exegetical,  and  reli- 
gious doctrines,  theories  and  sentiments  "were  in  accord- 
ance with  the  real  meaning  of  the  original  text.  It  may 
often,  and  perhaps  generally  where  no  doctrine  or  doubt- 
ful construction  is  concerned,  have  the  effect  to  express 
that  real  meaning,  and  to  that  extent  it  might  be  harm- 
less, and,  if  not  wholly  useless,  might  be  of  equal  value 
with  a  paraphrase  to  the  same  effect.  But  if  the  student 
adopts  this  system  as  a  guide,  he  naturally  relies  on  it 
as  equally  applicable  to  every  portion  of  the  sacred  ora- 
cles, and,  with  as  much  confidence  in  one  case  as  in 
another,  adopts  the  construction  which  it  indicates. 

An  attempt  to  reform  the  reigning  fashion  of  Hebrew 
study  in  relation  to  this  subject  would  probably  be  as 
hopeful  a  task  as  an  attempt  to  disabuse  the  minds  of 
theologians  and  religious  teachers  of  the  empirical,  fan- 
ciful, and  puerile  system  of  figurative  exposition  which 
was  rendered  popular  by  Origen,  and  has  reigned  tri- 
umphant from  his  to  the  present  time  ;  being  propagated 
from  age  to  age  by  education,  and  by  the  example  and 
influence-  of  the  learned.  But,  regarded  in  a  merely  his- 
torical point  of  view,  there  appears  to  be  no  room  for 
doubt  but  that  the  Hebrew  vowel  points — closely  and 
even  bigotedly  adhered  to,  as  they  are  understood  to  have 
been,  by  the  translators  of  the  Scriptures  into  our  own 
and  other  modern  languages — had,  extensively,,  a  very 
ill  effect  upon  the  versions  which  they  furnished.  And 
to  whatever  extent  this  was  true,  it  would  naturally  pre- 
vail, especially  in  relation  to  those  passages  concerning 
which  the  authors  held  erroneous  opinions,  and  as  to 
which,  under  the  more  than  hereditary  Jewish  preju- 
dices occasioned  by  the  persecutions  and  proscriptions 
to  which  they  were  subjected,  they  aimed  to  counteract 


IN   MOSES  AND   THE   PROPHETS.  171 

the  tendency  of  the  Chaldee  versions,  as  well  as  "to  root 
out,"  in  the  language  of  McCaul,  the  Christian  inter- 
pretations of  the  Hebrew  text.  "  The  violent  persecu- 
tions of  the  Crusaders,"  says  that  writer,  "the  jealousy 
excited  by  the  Christian  attempt  upon  the  Holy  Land, 
and  the  influence  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Mahometans, 
amongst  whom  they  lived,  produced  a  sensible  change 
in  Jewish  opinions  and  interpretations,  which  is  plainly 
marked  in  Kimchi  and  other  writers  of  the  day,  and 
without  a  knowledge  of  which  the  phenomena  of  mod- 
ern Judaism  cannot  be  fully  understood.  Rashi,  Aben- 
Ezra,  and  Kimchi  endeavored  to  get  rid  of  the  Christian 
interpretations,  and  Maimonides  to  root  out  the  Christian 
doctrines  which  had  descended  from  the  ancient  Jewish 
Church.'1'1  {Introduction  to  Kimchi.)  Yet  this  laborious 
student  of  those  authors  and  of  the  Talmud  adhered  as 
pertinaciously  as  they  to  the  Masoretic  points,  and  ap- 
parently without  ever  suspecting  that  their  highest  office 
and  their  necessary  and  principal  effect  Was  that  of  being 
the  vehicle  of  a  comment.  Such  is  the  force  of  educa- 
tion, literary  discipline,  example,  and  habit  in  generating 
fixed  opinions. 

But  let  one  deemed  competent  to  judge  and  to  speak 
upon  this  subject  be  referred  to : 

"The  Masoretic  punctuation,"  says  Bishop  Lowth, 
"by  which  the  pronunciation  of  the  language  is  given, 
the  forms  of  the  several  parts  of  speech,  the  construction 
of  the  words,  the  distribution  and  limits  of  the  sentences, 
and  the  connection  of  the  several  members,  are  fixed, 
is  in  effect  an  interpretation  of  the  Hebrew  text  made  by 
the  Jews  of  late  ages,  probably  not  earlier  than  the  eighth 
century,  and  maybe  considered  as  their  translation  of  the 
Old  Testament.  Where  the  words,  unpointed,  are  capable 
of  various  meanings,  accordingly,  as  they  are  variously 


172  THE   MESSIAH 

pronounced  and  constructed,  the  Jews,  by  their  pointing, 
have  determined  them  to  one  meaning  and  construction , 
and  the  sense  which  they  thus  give  is  their  sense  of  the 
passage,  just  as  the  rendering  of  a  translator  into  an- 
other language  is  his  sense ;  that  is,  the  sense  in  which 
in  his  opinion  the  original  words  are  to  be  taken  ;  and 
it  has  no  other  authority  than  what  arises  from  its  being 
agreeable  to  the  rules  of  just  interpretation.  But  because 
in  the  languages  of  Europe  the  vowels  are  essential  parts 
of  written  words,  a  notion  was  too  hastily  taken  up 
by  the  learned  at  the  revival  of  letters,  when  the  ori- 
ginal Scriptures  began  to  be  more  carefully  examined, 
that  the  vowel  points  were  necessary  appendages  of  the 
Hebrew  letters,  and  therefore  coeval  with  them  ;  at  least 
that  they  became  absolutely  necessary  when  the  Hebrew 
was  become  a  dead  language,  and  must  have  been  added 
by  Ezra,  who  collected  and  formed  the  canon  of  the 
Old  Testament,  in 'regard  to  all  the  books  of  it  in  his 
time  extant.  On  this  supposition  the  points  have  been 
considered  as  part  of  the  Hebrew  text,  and  as  giving  the 
meaning  of  it  on  no  less  than  Divine  authority.  Accord- 
ingly, our  public  translations  in  the  modern  tongues  for 
the  use  of  the  Church  among  Protestants,  and  so  like- 
wise the  modern  Latin  translations,  are  for  the  most  part 
close  copies  of  the  Hebrew  pointed  text,  and  are  in  re- 
ality only  versions  at  second-hand,  translations  of  the 
Jews'  interpretation  of  the  Old  Testament." 

After  conceding  to  this  interpretation  what  he  sup- 
poses it  may  justly  claim,  he  adds  that  the  modern  trans- 
lators "would  have  made  a  much  better  use  of  it,  and 
a  greater  progress  in  the  explication  of  the  Scriptures  of 
the  Old  Testament,  had  they  consulted  it  without  abso- 
lutely submitting  to  its  authority  ;  had  they  considered 
it  as  an  assistant,  not  as  an  infallible  guide."     Finally. 


IN   MOSES   AND   THE    PROPHETS.  173 

lie  compares  the  effect  of  this  course  to  that  of  the  Act 
of  the  Council  of  Trent  in  pronouncing  the  Vulgate  to 
be  of  equal  authority  with  the  original  Scriptures.  (Dis- 
sertation preliminary  to  his  Version  of  Isaiah.) 

Now  to  apply  these  observations  to  the  case  in  hand. 
Our  translators  having  been  educated  in  the  Jewish 
sense  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  and  having  studied  the 
original  with  the  points  under  the  received  and  general 
impression  that  they  were  of  equal  authority  with  the 
text,  of  course  proceeded  with  their  translations  under 
the  influence  of  whatever  erroneous  constructions  and 
opinions  the  Massorites  and  their  disciples  entertained. 
Those  errors,  therefore,  which  were  predominant  in  the 
Jewish  mind  when  the  points  were  added  to  the  text, 
and  when  the  causes  of  prejudice  and  hostility  against 
the  Christian  doctrines  were  universally  and  most  vio- 
lently in  operation,  were  perpetuated,  both  among  Jews 
and  Christians,  by  the  use  of  those  ingenious  and  plau- 
sible appendages  ;  and  from  that  day  to  this,  translators 
and  expositors  have  fallen  back  upon  them,  and  upon 
the  awful  petrifactions  of  Talmudical  and  rabbinical 
jargon,  as  guides  to  the  meaning  of  the  words  of  In- 
spiration. 

The  Jewish  people,  after  their  total  defection  to  idol- 
atry, their  exile  in  Babylon,  and  the  cessation  of  pro- 
phetic gifts,  having  renounced  idols  and  incurred  the 
hatred  and  contempt  of  idolaters,  were,  from  their  rest- 
less state  of  mind,  their  internal  divisions,  feuds,  and 
rivalships,  and  the  exposures  and  vicissitudes  of  their 
external  condition,  peculiarly  exposed  to  cardinal  and 
sectarian  errors.  They  had  forsaken  Jehovah,  and  no 
longer  received  any  tokens  of  his  presence  and  favor. 
Both  priests  and  people,  a  faithful  remnant  always  ex- 
cepted, had  rejected  him  as  their  mediatorial  prophet, 


174  THE   MESSIAH 

priest,  and  king,  and  renounced' their  allegiance  to  him 
as  their  lawgiver  and  providential  ruler  and  protector; 
and  holding  no  longer  the  belief  of  a  Divine  mediator 
or  of  any  mediation,  they  relapsed  into  that  notion  of 
the  Unity  which  they  still  adhere  to,  and  looked  only 
for  a  temporal  political  Messiah.  The  fitful  efforts  at 
reformation  which,  under  the  influence  of  Ezra,  Nehe- 
miah,  and  the  latest  prophets,  appeared  after  the  rebuild- 
ing of  their  temple,  gave  place  to  extremes  of  formalism, 
hypocrisy,  and  impiety.  Their  notions  of  the  person, 
offices,  prerogatives,  incarnation  and  sacerdotal  work 
of  the  Anointed  One,  were  as  unscriptural  and  baseless 
as  those  of  more  modern  times. 

Justin  Martyr,  in  his  Dialogue  with  Trypho  the  Jew, 
(Brown's  version,)  about  the  middle  of  the  second  cen- 
tury, thus  refers  to  the  Kabbins  of  that  day,  (sect.  68.) 
Tiypho,  in  common,  no  doubt,  with  the  Jews  generally, 
held  that  there  was  no  distinction  of  Persons  in  the  God- 
head, and  that  there  was  no  Divine  Being,  or  Person, 
but  the  Father  only ;  and  quoted,  not  the  original  He- 
brew of  Scripture  texts,  but  the  glosses  and  false  con- 
structions of  the  Rabbins,  in  support  of  his  opinions. 
Justin  replies:  "If,  therefore,  I  shall  prove  that  this 
prophecy  of  Esaias  was  spoken  of  our  Christ,  and  not  of 
Hezekias,  as  you  say,  shall  not  I  prevail  upon  you  in 
this  also  to  disbelieve  your  Rabbies,  who  assert  that  the 
translation  which  your  seventy  Elders  made  when  they 
were  with  Ptolemy,  King  of  Egypt,  is  in  some  places  not 
true  ?  for  those  places  in  the  Scriptures  which  expressly 
contradict  any  foolish  notion  which  they  are  fond  of, 
they  say  are  not  so  in  the  original ;  and  those  places 
which  they  can  twist  and  twine  about  so  as  to  make 
them  suit  any  human  affairs,  they  say  were  not  spoken 
of  this  Christ  of  ours,  but  of  him  whom  they  endeavor 


IN   MOSES   AND   THE   PROPHETS.  175 

to  wrest  them  to  speak  of.  So  they  have  taught  you  to 
wrest  the  passage  now  in  dispute,  saying  that  it  was 
spoken  of  Hezekias  ;  upon  which  passage  I  will  prove 
that  they  have  fixed  a  wrong  interpretation.  But  when 
we  propose  those  Scriptures  to  them  which  I  have  already 
recited,  and  do  expressly  prove  that  Christ  was  to  be 
exposed  to  sufferings,  to  be  worshipped,  and  is  God, 
they  do  indeed,  being  necessarily  obliged  thereto,  own 
that  they  relate  to  Christ ;  but  they  take  upon  them  to 
assert,  that  he  was  not  the  Christ,  and  say  that  there  is 
one  still  to  come,  who  is  both  to  suffer,  and  to  reign, 
and  to  be  worshipped,  and  to  be  God."  In  sect.  71  he 
observes  that  the  Eabbies  "  have  erased  out  several 
Avhole  periods  from  the  Septuagint  translation,  in  which 
it  is  expressly  foretold  that  he  who  was  crucified  was  to 
be  God  and  man,  and  to  be  crucified  and  to  die  ;"  which 
erased  passages  he  afterwards  quotes. 

In  the  course  of  his  argument  he  alleges  and  quotes 
from  the  Old  Testament  to  show  that  the  Christ  is  called 
God,  Lord,  Lord  of  Hosts,  a  King,  the  King  of  Israel, 
the  King  of  Glory,  Angel  or  Messenger,  Man,  Captain 
of  the  Host,  &c. 

The  efforts  to  impart  correct  instruction  and  revive 
the  ancient  faith  by  means  of  the  Chaldee  expositions, 
doubtless  had  effect  upon  more  or  less  of  those  who 
frequented  the  synagogues  and  the  temple  services ;  but 
to  the  great  mass,  so  far  as  can  be  judged  from  history, 
or  from  their  sentiments  and  condition,  at  the  period 
of  the  advent,  they  were  of  no  avail.  How  natural, 
then,  that  the  successors  of  this  party  of  Sadducean  and 
Pharasaic  infidelity,  with  the  stimulus  added  by  the  con- 
version or,  as  they  regarded  it,  the  apostasy  of  many  to 
the  Christian  faith,  and  the  further  stimulus  of  Moham- 
medan  and  pseudo- Christian  intolerance  and  persecu- 


176  THE    MESSIAH 

tion,  should  do  their  utmost  to  conceal  or  extirpate  from 
the  Hebrew  text  all  traces  of  the  Christian  doctrine ! 

With  reference  to  the  subject  now  specially  in  hand, 
it  may  suffice  to  refer  to  a  single  instance  of  concealment 
and  perversion  which,  though  of  earlier  origin,  as  ap- 
pears from  the  Septuagint  and  the  Vulgate,  for  aught 
that  is  perceived,  was  fastened  upon  the  Hebrew  text 
by  the  Masoretic  punctuation,  and  was  derived  thence 
by  our  translators ;  namely,  that  of  the'  formula,  Melach 
Jehovah,  which,  by  the  examples  formerly  adduced,  the 
connections  in  which  it'occurs,  the  use  of  the  terms  in- 
terchangeably, and  the  testimony  of  the  Evangelists,  is 
shown  to  be  a  clear,  unequivocal,  and  emphatic  desig- 
nation of  the  official  Person,  Messiah,  the  Legate  of  the 
_  Father.  But  the  school  of  Jews  above  referred  to,  of 
whom  Kimchi  may  be  taken  as  a  representative,  con- 
sider the  person  designated  Melach  in  this  formula  "as 
nothing  more  than  one  of  the  many  angels  to  whom  he 
supposes  that  the  governance  and  guidance  of  this  lower 
world  is  committed."  They  did  not  regard  the  term 
Melach,  when  employed  in  this  formula,  as  a  name  of 
office,  signifying  Messenger,  but  as  a  personal  designa- 
tion, signifying  Angel,  an  angel,  one  of  the  angels. 
The  points  accordingly  are  so  adjusted  as  to  require  the 
rendering  to  be,  an  angel  of  the  Lord,  or  the  angel,  un- 
derstood as  one  of  the  angels  of  the  Lord.  To  gloss  over 
the  apparent  identity,  in  some  passages,  of  that  angel 
with  Jehovah,  and  the  ascription  of  the  same  acts  to  each 
separately,  they  represent  the  angel  as  personating,  and 
speaking  in  the  name  of,  Jehovah  ;  and  explain  his  call- 
ing himself  the  God  of  Beth-El  as  signifying  no  more 
than  Jacob's  calling  a  place  El-Beth- El. 

Now  it  is  apparent  that  our  translators  have  in  the 
instance  under  consideration  given  us,  not  the  clear  and 


IN   MOSES  AND   THE    PROPHETS.  177 

definite  import  of  the  original  text,  but,  closely  adher- 
ing to  the  points  and  following  the  steps  of  their  Kab- 
binical  guides,  have  given  .at  second-hand  a  version  of 
their  sense,  "  a  translation  of  their  interpretation."  In 
every  instance  but  one  (Malachi  iii.)  in  their  translation 
of  the  word  Melach,  (except  when  applied  to  men,)  they 
employ  the  word  Angel)  a  personal  designation,  not  a 
name  of  office ;  and  in  most  cases,  if  not  in  all,  the  English 
reader  must  naturally  suppose  that  the  reference  was 
merely  to  one  of  the  many  created  beings  called  angels. 
Accordingly,  though  they  sometimes  say,  the  angel  of 
the  Lord,  in  other  instances,  where  the  original  is  the 
same,  they  say,  an  angel  of  the  Lord,  implying  that  they 
did  not  uniformly  refer  to  the  same  Person,  nor  in  any 
case  to  any  other  than  a  created  angel.  The  same  thing 
is  further  illustrated  and  confirmed  by  their  grammatical 
construction  of  the  formula  in  accordance  with  the  points, 
rendering  it  uniformly,  the  angel,  or  an  angel  of  the 
Lord,  or  of  God.  For  instance,  in  Judges,. chap.  ii.  1,  in 
the  original,  Melach  Jehovah  came  up  from  Gilgal  to 
Bochim,  is  translated,  "an  angel  of  the  Lord  came  up," 
&c.  So  in  chap.  vi.  11  of  the  same  book,  Melach  Jehovah 
is  rendered,  an  angel  of  the  Lord  ;  and  in  the  next  verse 
the  same  formula  is  rendered,  the  angel  of  the  Lord ;  and 
three  times  in  the  20th  and  21st  verses,  the  angel ;  and 
twice  in  the  22 d  verse,  an  angel.  In  all  these  cases,  and 
many  others  like  them,  it  is  demonstrable  from  the  con- 
text that  one  and  the  same  person  is  referred  to  ;  that 
the  same  acts  are  ascribed  to  him  and  to  Jehovah,  and 
that  the  formula  by  which  he  is  designated  is  employed 
interchangeably  with  the  names  Jehovah  and  Elohim. 
Yet,  looking  no  farther  than  the  sentences  which  an- 
nounce the  actor  or  speaker  as  an  angel,  neither  collating 
those  sentences  with  others  in  the  same  or  other  chap- 
8* 


178  THE   MESSIAH 

ters,  nor  being  able,  if  he  did,  to  explain  or  reconcile  the 
various  and  discordant  renderings,  the  reader  is  left  in 
doubt  and  perplexity,  or  else  concludes  that  a  created 
angel  is  referred  to. 

Had  the  translators  in  this  and  other  cases  of  the  kind 
taken  the  unpointed  Hebrew  text  as  their  guide,  com- 
pared all  its  parallel  passages,  and  understood  the  word 
Melach  according  to  its  original  and  primary  meaning, 
•and  its  specific  and  necessary  import  where  joined  with 
the  Divine  names,  as  in  the  formulas  above-mentioned, 
to  be  a  name  of  office,  signifying  Messenger,  Legate,  one 
delegated,  sent ;  who  can  doubt  but  that  they  would 
have  discerned  in  the  designation  an  unmistakable  re- 
ference to  the  Messiah  ;  that  they  would  have  retained 
the  original  Hebrew  formulas,  or  translated  them  intel- 
ligibly and  uniformly,  and  left  their  readers  in  no  per- 
plexity as  to  their  sentiments  or  the  meaning  of  their 
version  ? 

The  word  Melach  first  occurs  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures, 
Gen.  xvi.,  where  it  is  employed  in  its  primary  significa- 
tion, and  occurs  four  times  in  the  formula  Melach  Jehovah, 
clearly  designating  the  official  Person,  Jehovah,  in  his 
delegated  character — the  Anointed  and  Sent  of  the  Fa- 
ther, The  Messenger  Jehovah.  In  the  original  there  is 
uniformity,  consistency,  and  perfect  freedom  from  am- 
biguity and  uncertainty  in  the  use  of  this  term  as  an 
.  official  designation,  here  and  wherever  it  occurs  through- 
out the  Scriptures.  There  is  no  mistaking  it  if  regarded 
in  its  grammatical  relation  with  the  Divine  names,  and 
its  connection  with  the  context,  independently  of  the 
points  and  of  the  hereditary  Jewish  construction;  and 
had  the  translators  so  regarded  it,  and  in  their  version 
employed  the  term  Messenger  instead  of  Angel,  it  would 
have  been  as  clearly  understood  to  designate  the  official 


IN   MOSES   AND   THE   PEOPHETS.  179 

Person  as  if  they  had  substituted  or  added  the  term 
Messiah. 

Subsequently,  this  name  of  office  was  applied  to  cre- 
ated angels  and  to  men  employed,  and  because  they  were 
employed,  as  messengers ;  and  it  finally  came  to  be  used 
as  a  personal  appellative.  The  first  instance  of  this 
occurs  Gen.  xix.  1 :  "  There  came  two  angels  to  Sodom," 
that  is,  two  messengers  ;  two  who  were  sent  by  Jehovah 
while  he  was  present  with  Abraham  in  the  visible  form 
of  man.  And  chap,  xxxii.  3,  6  :  "  Jacob  sent  messengers 
before  him  to  Esau.  .  .  .  And  the  messengers  returned 
to  Jacob ;"  that  is,  he  sent  two  of  his  servants  with  a 
message.  But  in  the  original,  the  word  translated  angels 
in  chap,  xix.,  and  messengers  in  chap,  xxxii.,  is  the 
same,  and  differs  from  that  in  chap.  xvi.  and  all  the 
parallel  passages  translated  angel,  only  by  being  in  the 
plural  form. 

This  term  llelach,  as  an  official  designation  of  Jeho- 
vah, including  the  instances  in  which  it  is  coupled  with 
the  name  Elohim.  occurs  more  than  twenty  times  in  the 
books  of  Moses,  and  more  than  twice  that  number  of 
times  in  the  later  Hebrew  Scriptures ;  and  considering 
that  it  is  often  employed  interchangeably  with  the  names 
Jehovah  and  Elohim;  that  the  same  acts,  revelations, 
promises,  covenants,  and  predictions,  are  in  the  same  or 
in  different  passages  ascribed  indifferently  to  Jehovah, 
Elohim,  and  the  Messenger  Jehovah  ;  and  that  in  the 
New  Testament,  both  in  references  to  the  Old  and  in 
original  revelations  and  announcements,  the  same  acts, 
promises,  &c,  are  ascribed  to  the  Logos  or  personal 
Word  under  that  and  other  designations ;  it  is  manifest 
that,  had  our  translators  rightly  apprehended  the  import 
and  reference  of  the  designation,  and  represented  it  in 
their  version  by  a  term  as  guarded,  unequivocal,  and 


180  THE   MESSIAH 

distinctive  as  the  original,  their  readers  would  be  at  no 
loss  as  to  how  or  in  what  relations  Moses  wrote  of  Christ. 

Bat  their  misguided  and  erroneous  apprehensions  and 
renderings  of  this  official  designation  are  scarcely  more 
remarkable  than  the  like  proceedings  on  their  part  in 
reference  to  several  other  peculiar  or  official  Hebrew- 
designations  of  the  Messiah,  which  occur  both  in  Moses 
and  the  prophets ;  their  inadequate  and  uncertain  or 
erroneous  versions  of  which  are  no  doubt  to  be  ascribed 
to  their  concurrence  with  the  Jewish  expositions  and 
with  the  requirements  of  the  vowel  points.  And  with- 
out imputing  any  other  than  honest  intentions,  or  doing 
any  injustice  to  the  translators,  but  only  allowing  for 
the  effect  of  their  theological  education,  and  for  the  ar- 
^bitrary  and  controlling  influence  of  the  guides  which 
they  thought  it  safe  to  follow,  and  which,  from  their 
own  convictions  and  the  ascendant  notions  of  the  times, 
they  were  in  effect  necessitated  to  adopt,  it  may  safely  be 
alleged  that,  with  respect  to  the  great  Actor  and  Reveal 
er,  the  pervading  theme  of  Moses  and  the  prophets,  they 
have  in  numerous  instances  wholly  failed,  and  in  their 
version,  as  a  whole,  but  partially  succeeded,  in  exhibiting 
the  designations  and  references  of  the  original. 

That  their  version,  as  a  whole,  is  superior  to  an}*  of  the 
other  modern  versions,  is  generally  admitted  ;  that  it  ex- 
hibits the  historical  narratives,  and  those  doctrinal  state- 
ments which  do  not  immediatel}*  relate  to  the  official 
Person,  with  a  fidelity  and  an  intelligibleness  scarcely 
indeed  to  be  avoided  by  able  and  honest  men,  but  which 
such  men  at  the  present  day  would  not  be  likely  to  excel, 
is  justly  to  be  acknowledged  ;  but  in  regard  to  the  per- 
sonal designations,  ascriptions  and  references  alluded  to, 
their  guides  subjected  their  intentions  to  an  erroneous 
theory. 


IN    MOSES   AND   THE   PROPHETS.  181 

The  ill  consequences  to  the  English  reader,  so  for  as 
the  doctrines  essential  to  his  salvation  are  concerned,  arc 
counteracted  by  the  record  of  the  visible  appearance  of 
the  official  Person  incarnate,  the  historical  narratives  of 
his  acts,  his  expiatory  death,  his  resurrection  and  ascen- 
sion, and  the  doctrinal  revelations  and  apostolic  testi- 
monies of  the  New  Testament ;  and  he  is  far  too  easily 
led  to  regard  the  Divine  oracles  as  of  little  significance 
or  importance,  except  in  so  far  as  they  specially  teach 
those  essential  doctrines.  In  this  partial  view  of  their 
import  and  design,  the  Old  Testament  is  lightly  esteemed 
or  disregarded  with  respect  to  the  far  greater  part  of  its 
contents,  by  those  who  most  highly  esteem  the  New, 
and  with  respect  to  the  whole  of  its  contents,  by  many. 
It  is  not  recognized  as  a  continuous  record  of  .personal 
Divine  manifestations,  visible  appearances,  supernatural 
acts,  audible  enunciations ;  a  record  of  the  creation, 
of  the  apostasy  and  its  consequences,  of  the  adminis- 
tration of  providence  and  grace,  and  of  visible  inter- 
positions and  retributions  towards  individuals,  families, 
and  nations  ;  a  progressive  disclosure  of  the  attributes, 
prerogatives,  and  purposes  of  the  Self-existent,  of  his 
acts  as  LaAVgiver  and  Ruler,  and  of  his  supremacy, 
majesty  and  glory,  whereby  He  who  personally  ap- 
peared and  acted  under  the  ancient  dispensations,  and 
at  length  became  incarnate,  revealed  himself  in  his 
delegated  relations  as*  truly  to  the  universe  of  the  un- 
fallen  as  to  man,  and  as  truly  with  reference  to  results 
3-et  future  as  to  those  incipient  events  in  which  were 
laid  the  foundations  of  his  onward,  universal,  and  never- 
ending  system  of  manifestations  and  agencies,  and  in 
the  progress  of  which  all  the  wonders  of  mercy  and 
justice,  all  the  retributions  of  time  and  awards  of  eter- 
nity, all  the  paradoxes  and  mysteries  of  the  past,  and 


182  THE   MESSIAH 

their  relations  to  the  future,  are  to  be  disclosed,  vindi- 
cated, and  rendered  luminous  to  the  apprehension  of 
intelligent  creatures.  The  eternal  purposes  which  were 
purposed  in  him  before  the  foundation  of  the  world, 
and  the  sequel  of  the  covenants,  prescriptions,  promises, 
comminations,  symbols,  and  predictions  which,  in 
connection  with  the  first  of  their  respective  series  of 
events,  were  announced  to  the  patriarchs  and  prophets, 
await  the  future  for  their  ever-widening  range  of  illus- 
tration and  accomplishment.  The  scene  is  but  begun. 
The  first  steps  only  of  an  endless  progress,  the  first 
events  only  of  a  continuous,  inseparable,  and  endless 
scries,  the  first  disclosures  only  of  a  boundless  range  of 
development  by  the  same  divine  Actor  and  Revealer, 
have  yet  transpired.  The  earth  as  his  footstool  is  yet 
to  be  the  scene  of  the  restitution  of  all  things.  His 
early  footsteps  on  it  are  to  be  retraced  in  a  renewed 
paradise,  and  the  visible  manifestations  of  the  past  to 
be  resumed,  when  all  that  is  recorded  of  Him  in  his 
offices  and  his  administration,  and  his  intercourse  with 
the  first  Adam,  and  with  the  patriarchs  and  jjrophets, 
will  be  understood  and  heeded  as  of  the  scheme  and 
fabric  of  his  glory. 


IN  MOSES  AND   THE   PEOPHETS.  183 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

Continuation  of  the  subject  of  the  preceding  Chapter — Combined  influ- 
ence of  Rabbinical  and  figurative  Interpretations — German  method  of 
Hebrew  study — Preposterous  notion  of  the  inadequacy  of  Language 
as  a  vehicle  of  Thought. 

There  is  a  view  of  the  ill  effects  of  the  combined 
influence  of  the  education  and  Rabbinical  example  and 
prescription  under  which  our  translation  was  produced, 
which  would  confirm  the  foregoing  observations,  were 
it  competently  traced  in  connection  with  the  no  less 
imposing  and  effective  influence  of  the  system  of  alle- 
gorical, mystical,  and  figurative  interpretation  which 
prevailed  from  and  after  the  days  of  Origen.  Had  our 
translators  not  been  spell-bound  by  the  influence  first 
above-mentioned,  they  would  have  been  impelled  by 
their  Protestantism,  their  piety,  and  their  good  sense,  to 
discard  the  latter.  Had  they  discerned  the  real  mean- 
ing, official  reference,  and  literal  import  of  the  designa- 
tions above  considered,  and  of  the  references,  manifesta- 
tions, and  acts  ascribed  in  connection  with  them  to  the 
Messiah,  and.  recognized  him  as  the  One  often  visible 
and  always  acting  Administrator  and  Revealer,  they 
could  not  have  failed  to  give  a  translation  with  which 
allegorical,  mystical  or  tropical  interpretations  of  the 
literal  language  of  the  historical,  and  the  literal  an- 
nouncements of  the  prophetic  portions  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, would  have  been  palpably  incongruous  and 
inadmissible.  But  the  one  influence,  by  keeping  the 
Messiah  personally,  and  in  respect  to  his  offices  and 
agency,  out  of  sight,  or  as  nearly  so  as  possible,  was  not 


184  THE   MESSIAH 

repugnant  to  the  other  system,  which  contemplated 
Him  only  as  foreshadowed  by  types  and  figures,  pro- 
phetic symbols  and  mystical  allusions,  as  though  the 
first  manifestation  of  his  official  agency  was  not  in- 
tended to  occur  till  his  incarnation. 

Unlike  the  fixed  and  imperative  rules  which  governed 
the  use  of  the  Masoretic  points,  this  figurative  system 
was  subject  to  no  conditions  or  restraints  other  than  such 
as  might  exist  in  the  imaginations  of  individuals.  It 
furnished  no  just  discrimination  or  definition  of  the 
different  figures  of  speech,  of  their  object,  or  of  their 
legitimate  use,  nor  pretended  to  give  a  reason  why  any 
word  was  in  any  given  case  said  to  be  used  figuratively, 
or  to  have  a  figurative  instead  of  a  literal  import.  It 
neither  descended  to  such  particulars,  nor  was  in  any 
way  dependent  on  them.  The  fact  that  every  word  m 
a  given  sentence  was  employed  by  the  writer  in  the 
most  strictly  literal  sense,  was  no  sign  that  it  must  of 
course  be  construed  literally,  nor  hindrance  of  Origen  or 
his  followers,  orthodox  or  Swedenborgian,  down  to  the 
present  day,  from  giving  the  whole  or  any  portion  of  it 
a  figurative  meaning,  and,  maugre  its  obvious  literal 
import,  making  it  refer  to  something  or  any  thing,  past, 
present,  or  future,  which  the  fancy  of  the  expositor 
might  suggest. 

O  CO 

Under  this  system,  it  is  easy  to  see  how  the  literal 
designations  and  literal  statements  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment relating  to  the  Messiah,  the  visible  appearances, 
special  interpositions,  and  various  acts  ascribed  to  him; 
and  the  literal  announcements  of  the  prophecies  con- 
cerning his  yet  future  manifestations,  the  descendants 
of  his  ancient  covenant  people,  Jerusalem,  the  mil- 
lennium, &c,  &c,  may  be  obscured,  mystified,  miscon- 
strued, or  wholly  explained  away. 


IX   MOSES   AND   THE   PROPHETS.  185 

Under  the  hitherto  unrestrained  predominance  of 
these  two  fountains  of  influence,  the  current  of  Hebrew 
learning  has  for  the  most  part  been  restricted  to  the 
grammatical  study  of  the  text  and  its  real  or  fancied 
difficulties  and  defects.  The  Germans,  who  lead  the 
way,  set  out  with  the  assumption  that  the  student  is  to 
regard  the  Bible  as  differing  in  no  respect  from  other 
books.  He  is  to  take  it  in  hand  just  as  he  would  if  be 
had  never  heard  of  its  claim  of  inspiration  or  of  Divine 
authority,  of  the  attributes  and  perfections  of  its  Author, 
of  his  works  of  creation  and  providence,  or  any  thing 
of  the  religion  which  it  teaches.  With  no  guiding 
theorv  of  the  great  scheme  of  the  Creator  and  Ruler  of 
the  world,  and  of  his  method  of  carrying  it  into  effect; 
with  no  conviction  that  in  a  volume  inspired  by  Him, 
that  scheme  and  method  must  constitute  the  leading 
and  pervading  theme,  and  be  so  prominent  as  to  render 
the  pettj'  difficulties  and  obscurities  he  may  meet  with 
of  no  account;  they  seem  to  enter  upon  the  study  as  we 
may  suppose  one  of  the  natives  of  our  ancient  forests, 
with  no  other  knowledge  of  art  than  was  required  in 
the  construction  of  his  cabin,  would  enter  upon  the 
task  of  learning  the  architectural  theory  which  go- 
verned the  construction  of  an  immense  and  complicated 
edifice,  with  the  objects  and  uses  of  the  whole  and  of 
each  constituent  part," by  examining  separately  and  in 
detail  duplicates  of  each  particular  brick,  stone,  timber, 
nail,  hinge,  clamp,  latch,  and  every  other  material  and 
element  of  the  finished  structure.  After  wearying  him- 
self with  this  undertaking,  he  would  be  apt  either  to 
abandon  it,  content  with  what  he  had  learned  of  the 
disconnected  elementary  materials,  or  to  form  an  erro- 
.neous  theory  of  their  relations  and  uses,  if  united  in 
conformity  with  the  model ;  or  else  to  conclude,  despite 


186  THE   MESSIAH 

the  model  before  him,  that  the  separate  pieces  could  not 
be  combined  in  one  harmonious  whole ;  that  no  theory 
would  account  for  such  a  result,  and  that  all  that  could 
be  done  was  to  study  them  separately,  ascertain  their 
separate  uses,  and  discover  their  defects ;  that  though, 
to  superficial  observers,  apparently  united  in  the  stately 
edifice,  they  were  not  really  united,  but  were  of  diverse 
natures  and  different  ages,  fashioned  and  added  by 
many  different  builders  at  widely  distant  periods ;  and 
that  the  structure  was  but  a  mass  of  patchwork,  the 
result  of  what  the  successive  builders  added  to  the  work 
of.  their  predecessors,  each  bringing  his  own  peculiar 
materials,  and  pursuing  the  style  of  architecture  preva- 
lent in  his  own  day ;  and  therefore  to  comprehend  it 
the  student  must  take  the  portion  of  each  builder  se- 
parately, and  make  it  his  object  to  investigate  and 
criticize  the  materials  and  style  employed  by  him,  com- 
pare each  with  all  the  others,  enumerate  their  defects, 
and  in  the  end  show  that,  viewed  collectively,  the  whole 
is  but  a  mass  of  discordant  materials,  clumsily  arranged, 
with  innumerable  defects,  inconsistencies, '  superfluities, 
erroneous  combinations,  and  objects  as  diverse  and 
various  as  the.  capacities,  tastes,  and  circumstances  of 
the  several  builders. 

If  this,  as  an  illustration  of  the  modern  German 
method  of  studying  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  is  in  any 
degree  exaggerated,  it  is  yet  probably  exact  enough  to 
account  for  the  worse  than  Rabbinical,  worse  than 
Popish,  worse  than  Mohammedan  results — neological  in- 
fidelity, both  Avith  respect  to  the  Old  and  the  New  Tes- 
taments,  and  atheism  with  respect  to  their  Author. 
Doubtless  there  are  exceptions — here  and  there  a  Lot 
escaping  for  bis  life  from  this  critical  Sodom.  The 
reference  is  to  the  general  and  notorious  results. 


IX   MOSES    AND   THE    PROPHETS.  l87 

The  system  virtually  begins  with  a  denial  of  the  Irvine 
origin  and  authority  of  the  Scriptures,  and  a  degrada- 
tion of  them  to  the  level  of  the  works  of  heathen 
authors ;  and  as  a  system,  pursued  under  the  influences 
above  referred  to,  is  no  better  calculated  to  lead  the 
student  to  a  right  apprehension  and  knowledge  of  the 
great  theme  and  connected  chain  of  things  revealed, 
than  the  study  of  insects,  under  the  name  of  the  science 
of  entomology,  is  calculated  to  enable  the  student  to 
conceive,  understand,  and  comprehend  the  doctrines  of 
the  Newtonian  philosophy. 

•  Among  the  results  of  this  course  of  things,  it  is  ob- 
vious to  notice  the  wide-spread,  notorious,  and  effective 
sentiment  of  doubt  and  uncertainty  as  to  the  claims  of 
the  Scriptures  in  respect  to  the  most  important  facts 
and  doctrines,  among  the  learned,  scientific  and  profes- 
sional men  extensively  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic. 
Hence  the  origin,  popularity,  and  influence  of  the  geo- 
logical doctrines  concerning  the  antiquity  of  the  earth, 
successive  creations  or  developments,  diversity  of  origin 
of  different  families  of  the  human  race,  and  various  kin- 
dred matters.  The  excited  minds  of  scientific  men,  un- 
satisfied, unestablished,  and  misled  by  the  results  of  Eab- 
binical  and  neological  study  and  criticism,  have  appealed 
from  the  Scripture  records  to  the  fossil  relics  of  what 
they  fancy  to  have  been  a  world  of  immeasurably  higher 
antiquity  than  that  of  whose  creation  Moses  is  the  his- 
torian. They  seek  there,  and  imagine  that  the}?'  discover, 
engraven  on  the  rocks,  an  earlier  revelation,  a  more 
correct  chronology,  a  higher  and  more  intelligible 
theory  of  the  origin,  progress,  uses,  and  ends  of  the 
earth,  its  changes,  and  its  families  of  rational  and  irra- 
tional inhabitants.  And  finally  the  better  portion  of 
this  great  school,  as  the  only  means  left  of  guarding  the 


188  THE    MESSIAH 

rising  generation  from  Wank  atheism,  recommend  the 
institution  of  professorships  of  Natural  Theology,  that, 
by  a  due  exhibition  to  them  of  the  evidences  of  geo- 
logical and  other  natural  sciences,  they  ma}-,  if  possible, 
be  convinced  that  there  is  a  God  ! 

Another  result  is  obvious  in  the  still  more  extend*  d 
influence  among  all  classes,  learned,  religious,  ignorant 
and  skeptical,  of  the  discover}- — made,  probably,  or 
adopted,  alike  by  the  Talmudists  and  Origen,  though 
not  openly  professed  as  a  clue  to  their  productions-- 
that  language  is  a  very  inadequate,  imperfect,  indeter- 
minate vehicle  of  thought:  an  uncertain,  incompetent, 
unreliable  means  of  expressing  men's  ideas.  The  in- 
cautious, half  demented  inheritors  of  this  discovery, 
however,  apprehending,  in  the  present  condition  of  things, 
no  danger  of  injury  to  their  intellectual,  professional,  lite- 
rary or  religious  reputation,  proclaim  it  as  boldly  and 
unreservedly  as  if  it  were  universally  admitted  and  con- 
firmed by  universal  experience.  Out  of  charity  or  out 
of  hypocrisy  towards  their  readers,  indeed,  or  because 
they  consider  themselves  exceptions  to  a  general  rule, 
applicable,  in  their  view,  even  to  the  penmen  of  the 
sacred  writings,  they  directly  profess  and  apply  this 
fancied  discovery  only  in  relation  to  the  language  of 
Scripture  and  to  that  of  orthodox  creeds  and  confessions. 
In  this  they  feel  secure  of  the  acquiescence  of  the  great 
majority  of  all  descriptions,  and,  but  for  their  heresies 
in  other  relations,  and  having  other  bearings,  would  feel 
in  other  respects,  as  well  as  in  this,  secure  of  the  learned 
among  the  orthodox. 

It  is  obvious  how,  by  this  device,  the  Arch-enemy 
wins  and  secures  his  prey  among  those  who  have  the 
oracles  of  God;  as  of  old  among  the  heathen  by  his 
own  oracles,  the  responses  from  which  were  ever  c'apa 


IN   MOSES   AND   THE    PROPHETS.  189 

ble  of  several  meanings,  from  among  which  the  consult- 
ing party  might  adopt  the  one  most  agreeable  to  his 
wishes,  feelings,  and  emotions. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

Relation  of  the  antagonism  between  the  Messiah  and  the  great  Adver- 
sary to  the  local,  personal,  and  visible  Manifestations  of  the  former — 
Modes  of  Visibility  on  the  part  of  the  latter,  through  human  agents 
and  various  instrumentalities. 

ThE  antagonism  between  the  Messiah  and  the  great 
Adversary,  which,  in  the  Scriptures,  is  conspicuous  in 
all  that  relates  to  idolatry  and  other  principal  forms  of 
impiety,  and  the  means  employed  to  counteract  and 
punish  them,  strongly  implies  and  confirms  the  reality 
and  visibility  of  the  local  personal  appearances  and  acts 
recorded  of  the  delegated  Person.  The  scene  of  that 
antagonism  was  on  the  earth.  It  involved  an  abiding 
enmity  and  active  hostility  between  the  followers  of  the 
respective  leaders,  separated  the  descendants  of  Adam 
into  two  hostile  parties,  and  was  carried  on  by  means  of 
their  visible  agency  in  all  the  forms  in  which  they  could 
express  their  inward  sentiments,  and  in  all  the  relations 
they  sustained  to  the  Divine  Lawgiver,  to  the  Arch- 
apostate,  and  to  one  another.  In  so  far,  then,  as  their 
acts  and  doings  were  visible  in  carrying  on  this  war- 
fare, it  was  requisite  that  the  means  of  opposing,  coun- 
teracting and  condemning  them  should  be  visibly  ex- 
hibited, that  they  might  be  observed,  rightly  judged  of, 
and  productive  of  appropriate  moral  effects. 


190  THE   MESSIAH 

But  granting  this  to  be  apparent  from  the  nature  of 
the  case,  so  far  as  concerns  the  agency  of  righteous  men 
on  one  side,  and  that  of  wicked  men  on  the  other;  it  may 
at  first  be  thought  not  to  require  any  visible  manifesta- 
tions or  acts  of  the  Divine  leader  of  the  righteous,  any 
more  than  of  the  apostate  leader  of, the  wicked.  The 
sequel  may  show  that  such  visibility  in  respect  to  both 
was  exhibited ;  by  the  one,  to  whom  it  occasioned  no 
difficult  in  any  respect,  in  whatever  mode,  and  to  what- 
ever extent  he  pleased  ;  by  the  other,  in  whatever  ways 
it  was  possible  for  him  to  render  himself  visible,  by 
subjecting  the  bodies  of  men  or  of  inferior  animals  to 
his  possession  and  control,  and  through  their  physical 
organs  acting  and  speaking,  and  thereby  giving  visi- 
bility to  his  acts  and  audible  utterance  to  his  words ;  or 
by  counterfeit  apparitions,  and  by  such  arts  and  jug- 
glery as  his  followers,  the  magicians  of  Egypt  and  else, 
where,  practised  with  such  success  as  to  render  their 
apparent  acts  undistinguishable  from  real  ones. 

That  he  had  the  power  of  occupying  and  actuating 
the  bodies  of  men  and  of  inferior  animals,  is  shown  by 
what  is  recorded  of  him  and  of  the  demons  under  him, 
in  the  New  Testament;  and  it  is  very  evident  from 
what  was  said  by  the  Jews  on  various  occasions,  that 
such  possessions  were  no  matter  of  surprise  or  doubt;  and 
that  they  well  understood  that  it  was  Satan,  Baal-Zebub, 
the  prince  of  the  demons,  that  wras  cast  out  by  the  power 
of  Christ,  is  evident  from  his  question  when  answering 
them  on  one  occasion,  "  How  can  Satan  cast  out  Satan?" 

In  that  which,  from  the  events  in  Eden  to  the  day  of 
Pentecost,  was  remarkable  as  a  dispensation  of  visible 
agencies  and  results,  visible  teachings,  rites,  ordinances, 
institutions,  mercies  and  judgments,  manifestations  and 
events,  the  Adversary  carried  on  his  system  of  hostility 


IN   MOSES   AND   THE   PKOPHETS.  191 

and  rivalry  by  visible  agents  and  instruments,  as  will 
be  illustrated  with  reference  to  the  all  but  universal 
system  of  idolatry  of  which  he  was  the  head  under  the 
name  of  Baal,  and  in  whicli  he  was  represented  by  visi- 
ble images  without  number,  and  had  innumerable  priests 
and  counterfeits  of  all  the  visible  accompaniments  of  the 
system  prescribed  for  the  worship  of  Jehovah. 

In  the  progress  of  that  dispensation  it  is  observable, 
not  only  that  the  Divine  Messenger  appeared  in  the 
visible  likeness,  and,  at  its  close,  in  the  nature  of  man, 
but  also  that  created  spiritual  beings,  angels,  appeared 
visibly  from  time  to  time,  and  at  the  advent,  resurrec- 
tion and  ascension  of  Christ.  The  power  of  rendering 
themselves  visible,  if  it  resided  in  the  unfallen  angels, 
and  was  a  condition  of  their  nature,  is  likely  to  have 
been  retained  and  exercised  by  the  fallen.  And  if— as 
hypocrites,  by  their  outward  and  visible  acts,  make 
themselves  appear  to  be  honest  and  true — Satan  can 
deceive  by  assuming  the  appearance  of  an  angel  of  light, 
he  is  likely  to  have  exercised  that  power  in  every  way 
possible  to  him  and  conducive  to  his  ends.  Possessing 
capacities  little  conceived  of  or  comprehended  by  mor- 
tals ;  capacities  indicated  by  the  attitude  of  opposition 
and  rivalship  which  he  assumed  towards  his  Creator 
and  rightful  Sovereign,  the  omnipotent  and  omniscient 
One ;  by  the  boldness  and  perseverance  of  his  rebellion, 
the  vastness  of  the  results  which  he  accomplished  in  the 
seduction  of  his  celestial  followers,  and  the  ruin  of  this 
world;  the  indescribable  audacity  of  his  personal  en- 
counter in  the  wilderness  with  the  incarnate  Word,  and 
the  still  more  amazing  clesperateness  of  the  conflicts 
predicted  in  the  Apocalypse ;  who  can  doubt  but  that  he 
had  at  all  times  ways  and  means  of  rendering  his  agency 
visible,  directly  and  by  instruments  at  his  command  ? 


192  THE    MESSIAH 

It  is  plain,  from  the  narrative  of  the  temptation  in 
the  wilderness,  that  he  was  locally  present,  and  in  a 
way  implying  relations  to  physical  things  analogous  to 
those  of  men ;  to  the  atmosphere,  as  the  medium  of  sound 
and  of  vision  ;  to  the  earth,  as  a  basis  of  locomotion ; 
that  he  uttered  words  and  exerted  physical  power.  So 
in  the  narrative  of  Job,  and  that  of  the  scene  in  Pa- 
radise, to  specify  no  others,  such  physical  and  visible 
acts  are  ascribed  to  him  as  plainly  as  acts  visibly  of  a 
similar  nature  are  affirmed  of  the  two  angels  who,  with 
Jehovah,  came  to  Abraham  in  the  form  of  men,  par- 
took as  men  of  his  repast,  and  at  parting  from  Jehovah 
and  Abraham,  "turned  their  faces  and  went  towards 
Sodom." 

His  policy  as  a  deceiver  would  have  been  defeated, 
had  he  stood  forth  manifest  in  such  form  to  mortal 
eyes  as  clearly  to  identify  him,  arid  expose  his  malig- 
nity and  betray  his  evil  designs  towards  the  human 
race,  while  yet  in  a  state  of  probation  with  reference  to 
their  repentance  and  salvation.  He  succeeded  with 
them,  for  the  most  part,  by  subtlety,  craft,  falsehood 
exhibiting  counterfeit  resemblances  of  goodness,  and 
working  through  visible  agents  actuated  by  him,  and 
instrumentalities  which  served  as  screens.  Thus,  in  the 
first  temptation,  having  no  alternative  prior  to  the  fall,  he 
actuated  an  irrational  creature,  erect,  perhaps,  originally, 
in  form,  and  otherwise  preeminently  adapted  to  his  pur- 
pose, but  afterwards  by  the  curse  (denounced  on  the 
visible  agent  as  an  intelligent  person,  in  whom  the 
fallen  spirit  and  the  animal  were  united  as  by  a  mock 
incarnation)  degraded  to  crawl  upon  the  ground,  and 
called  the  serpent ;  while  the  actuating  intelligent 
agent  was  forewarned  of  the  enmity  and  prolonged 
hostility  which  would  ensue  between  him  and  his  fol- 


IN  MOSES  AND  THE   PROPHETS.  193 

lowers  and  the  race  which  he  had  seduced.  The  nar- 
rative, 1  Kings  xxii.  19 — 23,  shows  that  Satan  could 
inspire  false  prophets,  sorcerers  and  magicians;  and  the 
exercise  of  that  power  is  doubtless  to  be  supposed  in 
respect  to  all  those  who  are  called  false  prophets,  sor- 
cerers, diviners,  &c. ;  those  who  inquired  of  Baal-Zebub, 
or  consulted  any  of  the  oracles  of  the  idolatrous  party. 
There  are  in  the  annals  of  sorcery  and  witchcraft 
innumerable  illustrations  of  the  agency,  pretensions 
and  purposes  of  the  Evil  One  in  securing  the  homage 
of  men,  and  employing  them  as  instruments  of  his 
antagonism.  The  following  notices  are  taken  from 
"  Narratives  of  Sorcery  and  Magic,  from  the  most 
authentic  sources.  By  Thomas  Wright,  M.  A.,  F.  S.  A." 
This  work  relates  chiefly  to  the  sentiments,  practices, 
judicial  trials,  confessions  and  executions  of  sorcerers 
and  magicians,  in  the  thirteenth  and  four  ensuing  cen- 
turies, in  England,  Scotland,  France,  Spain,  Germany, 
and  other  countries  of  Europe.  A  belief  in  sorcery,  as 
a  kind  of  supernatural  agency,  was  then  universally 
prevalent,  and  was  manifested  in  two  different  forms, 
sorcery  and  magic.  "The  magician  differed  from  the 
witch  in  this :  that  while  the  latter  was  an  ignorant  in- 
strument in  the  hands  of  the  demons,  the  former  had 
become  their  master  by  the  powerful  intermediation  of 
a  science  which  was  only  within  the  reach  of  a  few,  and 
which  these  beings  were  unable  to  disobey."  Of  this 
science  there  were  several  schools  in  Europe.  The 
professed  object  of  those  who  studied  it  was  to  acquire 
the  power  of  coercing  the  Evil  One.  In  practice,  the 
magicians,  tempted  by  ambition,  avarice,  or  some  other 
passion,  generally  made  "the  final  sacrifice,"  that  is, 
formally  sold  their  souls  to  Satan.  Thus,  in  the  tenth 
9 


194  THE   MESSIAH 

century,  "  Gerbert  is  said  to  have  sold  himself,  on  con- 
dition of  being  made  a  pope." 

"The  witch  held  a  lower  degree  in  the  scale  of  for- 
bidden knowledge.  She  was  a  slave  without  recom- 
pense ;  she  had  sold  herself  without  any  apparent 
object,  unless  it  were  the  mere  power  of  doing  evil." 
"  It  has  been  an  article  of  popular  belief,  from  the 
earliest  period  of  the  history  of  the  nations  of  western 
Europe,  that  women  were  more  easily  brought  into 
connection  with  the  spiritual  world  than  men ;  priest- 
esses were  the  favorite  agents  of  the  deities  of  the  ages 
of  paganism.  During  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  cen- 
turies, the  power  of  the  witches  to  do  mischief  was 
derived  from  a  direct  compact  with  the  Demon,  [Devil,] 
whom  they  were  bound  to  worship  with  certain  rites 
and  ceremonies,  the  shadows  of  those  which  had,  in 
remoter  ages,  been  performed  in  honor  of  the  pagan 
gods."  In  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries,  "  the 
witches  met  together  by  night,  in  solitary  places,  to 
worship  their  master,  who  appeared  to  them  in  the 
shape  of  a  cat  or  a  goat,  or  sometimes  in  that  of  a 
man.  At  these  meetings  they  had  feasts,  and  some 
were  appointed  to  serve  at  table,  while  others  received 
reward  or  punishment,  according  to  their  zeal  in  the 
service  of  the  Evil  One.  Hither  also  they  brought 
children  which  they  had  stolen  from  their  cradles,  and 
which  were  sometimes  torn  to  pieces  and  devoured. 
We  see  here  the  first  outlines  of  the  witches'  '  Sabbath' 
of  a  later  age." 

In  the  progress  of  the  narratives  there  are  abundant 
testimonies  to  the  following  opinions  and  practices : 

1.  That  it  was  Satan,  the  arch-apostate,  personally, 
with  whom  they  entered  into  compact ;  selling  to  him 


IN   MOSES   AND   THE    PROPHETS.  195 

their  souls  for  a  consideration,  and  covenanting  to  wor- 
ship and  serve  him,  and  to  renounce  Christ  and  blas- 
pheme his  name. 

Thus,  in  the  confession  of  a  Dr.  Fian,  of  Scotland,  of 
"the  origin  of  his  acquaintance  with  the  Devil,"  while 
meditating  how  he  should  be  revenged  of  his  landlord, 
"  The  Devil  suddenly  made  his  appearance,  clad  in  white 
raiment,  and  said  to  him,  '  AVill  ye  be  my  servant,  and 
adore  me,  and  ye  shall  never  want  ?'  The  Doctor  assented 
to  the  terms,  and,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  Evil  One, 
revenged  himself."  And  in  that  of  Ganfridi,  a  French 
Catholic  priest:  "The  Demon  appeared  to  him  in  a 
human  form,  and  said  to  him,  'What  do  you  desire  of 
me?' "  After  stating  what  he  wanted,  "  the  Demon  pro- 
mised to  grant  him  his  desires,  on  condition  that  he 
would  give  up  to  him  entirely  his  'body,  soul,  and 
works ;'  to  which  he  agreed,"  excepting  only  what  related 
to  his  performing  the  sacraments  as  a  priest. 

2.  They  had  what  they  termed  "Sabbaths,"  when  they 
met  for  the  worship  of  Satan ;  and  also  periodical  feasts, 
appointed  on  days  set  apart  for  festivals  of  the  Komish 
Church. 

Ganfridi,  the  priest  above  mentioned,  "gave  an  ac- 
count of  the  Sabbaths,  at  which  he  was  a  regular  attend- 
ant. When  he  was  ready  to  go — it  was  usually  at 
night — he  either  went  to  the  open  window  of  his  chamber, 
or  proceeded  through  the  door  into  the  open  air.  There 
Lucifer  made  his  appearance,  and  took  him  in  an  instant 
to  their  place  of  meeting,  where  the  orgies  of  the  witches 
and  sorcerers  lasted  usually  from  three  to  four  hours. 
Ganfridi  divided  the  victims  of  the  Evil  One  into  three 
classes:  the  novices,  the  sorcerers,  and  the  magicians. 
On  arriving  at  the  meeting,  they  all  worshipped  the 
Demon,  according  to  their  several  ranks;  the  novices 


196  THE   MESSIAH 

falling  flat  on  their  faces,  the  sorcerers  kneeling  with 
their  heads  and  bodies  humbly  bowed  down,  and  the 
magicians,  who  stood  highest  in  importance,  only  kneel- 
ing. After  this  they  all  went  through  the  formality  of 
denying  God  and  the  saints.  Then  they  had  a  diaboli- 
cal service  in  burlesque  of  that  of  the  Church,  at  which 
the  Evil  One  served  as  priest  in  a  violet  chasuble ;  the 
elevation  of  the  demon  host  was  announced  by  a  wooden 
bell,  and  the  sacrament  itself  was  made  of  unleavened 
bread.  The  scenes  of  unutterable  licentiousness  which 
followed,  resembled  those  of  other  witch  meetings." 

In  the  early  part  of  the  seventeenth  century,  in  La- 
bourd,  at  the  south-west  corner  of  France,  nearly  all  the 
families  of  a  population  of  thirty  thousand  were  subjects 
of  sorcery.  At  their  ' '  Sabbaths, "  which  were  numerously 
attended  every  Wednesday  and  Friday  night,  "  Satan, 
seated  on  a  throne,  appeared  in  the  shape  of  a  large 
black  man  with  horns,  and  sometimes  in  other  forms. 
The  ceremonies  of  worship,  the  feasting,  the  dance,  and 
the  license  which  followed,  are  described  in  all  their 
particulars,  in  a  multitude  of  confessions." 

In  Navarre,  the  delusion  was  no  less  prevalent.  The 
ordinary  Sabbaths  were  held  every  Monday,  Wednes- 
day, and  Friday  evening.  "  The  form  assumed  by  the 
Demon  was  that  of  a  man  with  a  sad  and  choleric  coun- 
tenance, very  black  and  very  ugly.  He  was  seated  on 
a  lofty  throne,  black  as  ebony,  and  sometimes  gilt,  with 
all  the  accessories  calculated  to  inspire  reverence.  On  his 
head  was  a  crown  of  small  horns,  with  two  larger  ones 
behind,  and  another  larger  one  on  the  forehead.  It  was 
the  latter  which  gave  a  light  somewhat  greater  than 
that  of  the  moon,  but  less  than  that  of  the  sun,  which 
served  to  illumine  the  assembly.  His  eyes  were  large- 
and  round,  and  terrible  to  look  at ;  his  beard  like  that 


IN   MOSES  AND   THE   PROPHETS.  197 

of  a  goat,  and  the  lower  part  of  his  body  had  the  form 
of  that  animal,  &c.  His  worship  was  conducted  with 
the  same  forms  and  ceremonies  as  in  Labourd.  After 
the  worship  of  the  Demon  followed  a  travestie  of  the 
Christian  mass ;  after  the  mass,  the  usual  licentiousness, 
then  the  feast.  Before  they  left,  the  Demon  preached 
to  them  on  the  duties  they  had  contracted  towards  him, 
exhorted  them  to  go  and  injure  their  fellow-creatures,  and 
to  practise  every  kind  of  wickedness,  and  gave  them 
powders  and  liquors  for  poisoning  and  destroying.  He 
often  accompanied  them  himself  when  some  great  evil 
was  to  be  done," 

3.  In  the  confessions  of  those  who  were  tried  and 
executed,  it  is  related  in  numerous  instances  that  they 
had,  on  their  first  admission  at  the  Sabbath  rites  and 
orgies,  formally  renounced  Christ,  and  uttered  blasphem- 
ous expressions.  It  was  an  article  of  their  compact  that 
they  should  not,  at  any  of  their  assemblies,  mention  the 
name  of  Christ;  (an  interdict  similar  to  that  of  the 
Yezzidis,  or  worshippers  of  Satan,  near  Mosul,  men- 
tioned by  M.  Layard ;)  and  it  is  affirmed  that  whenever 
his  name  was  inadvertently  articulated,  the  assembly 
was  instantly  dispersed. 

4.  It  was  held  that  the  initiated  received  from  the 
Evil  One  a  particular  mark  on  their  persons,  to  distin- 
guish them  as  his ;  that  Satan  often  appeared  to  them 
unexpectedly  in  the  form  of  a  goat,  a  black  dog,  a 
cat,  a  horse,  or  a  toad;  and  that  each  new  witch  re- 
ceived a  toad,  cat,  or  other  animal,  as  an  imp  or  familiar 
to  attend  them  constantly.  They  pretended  to  raise 
storms,  destroy  vessels  and  crops,  torment  and  kill 
animals  and  men  by  their  sorcery ;  and  for  such  crimes 
many  thousands  of  them  were  accused,  tried,  and  put 
to  death. 


198  THE   MESSIAH 


CHAPTER  XVIIL 

Illustration  of  the  subject  of  the  last  Chapter,  exhibiting  the  Antago- 
nism as  carried  on  by  visible  agencies,  instrumentalities,  and  events, 
in  the  plagues  of  Egypt  and  at  the  Red  Sea. 

There  is  a  striking  instance  of  this  antagonism 
carried  on  by  visible  agencies,  instrumentalities,  and 
events,  "in  the  narrative  of  the  plagues  of  Egypt,  under 
the  immediate  direction  of  the  Messenger  Jehovah, 
after  his  appearance  to  Moses  in  the  burning  bush  ;  of 
which  plagues  it  was  repeatedly  declared  to  be  the 
object  on  the  one  hand  to  convince  the  children  of 
Israel,  and  by  rehearsal  to  their  descendants  to  con- 
vince them  that  he  was  indeed  Jehovah;  "and  on  the 
other,  to  cause  Pharaoh  and  the  Egyptians  to  know 
that  he  was  the  Self-existent,  and  to  cause  his  name  to 
be  declared  throughout  all  the  earth.  Pharaoh,  and 
the  priests  of  Baal,  and  the  wise  men,  the  sorcerers 
and  magicians,  like  Ahab  and  the  prophets  and  vo- 
taries of  Baal  in  his  time;  and  Nebuchadnezzar  and 
the  magicians,  astrologers,  sorcerers  and  Chaldeans 
of  his,  were  to  witness  miraculous  and  resistless  proofs 
that  Jehovah,  the  Elohe  of  Abraham  and  Israel,  was 
the  only  living  and  true  God,  the  Creator,  proprietor, 
and  ruler  of  the  world,  and  that  their  idolatry  was  an 
imposture  and  a  cheat.  In  this,  as  in  the  other  and 
all  similar  instances  of  a  public  formal  conflict  of  the 
great  antagonists  and  their  agents,  to  determine  -which 
should  be  acknowledged  as  supreme,  and  be  obeyed  and 
worshipped,  the  demonstrations  on  the  part  of  Jehovah 


IN   MOSES  AND  THE   PROPHETS.  '  199 

were  resisted,  step  by  step,  by  the  Adversary  and  his 
party,  till  they  were  overpowered,  shown  to  be  false 
pretenders,  terrified,  exposed,  and  confounded. 

Jehovah  directed  Moses  and  Aaron,  when  they  ap- 
peared before  Pharaoh,  and  were  required  by  him  "  to 
show  a  miracle"  in  support  of  their  pretensions,  to  cast 
down  the  rod  they  were  to  carry,  and  it  should  become 
a  serpent — the  animal  with  which  the  name  and  per- 
sonal history  of  Satan  were  intimately  associated,  and 
whose  visible  form  was  familiar  among  the  material 
images,  representative  of  him  under  the  name  of  Baal, 
from  the  earliest  times ;  the  animal  which  he  entered 
and  actuated  in  Eden,  and  which,  doubtless,  he  could 
enter  and  actuate  again,  and  by  jugglery  employ  rods 
in  his  exhibition.  'And  Aaron  cast  down  his  rod 
before  Pharaoh  and  before  his  servants,  and  it  became 
a  serpent;"  as  much  as  to  say,  Here  is  a  miracle,  pro- 
ducing before  your  eyes  the  god,  the  visible  image  and 
representative  of  the  god  whom  you  worship.  But 
we  may  suppose  Pharaoh  to  have  said,  This  we  can  do : 
this  only  shows  the  power  of  our  god,  and  is  to  no 
purpose  as  evidence  on  your  side.  "Then  Pharaoh 
called  the  wise  men  and  the  sorcerers,  and  the  ma- 
gicians of  Egypt  did  in  like  manner  with  their 
enchantments ;  for  they  cast  down  every  man  his  rod, 
and  they  became  serpents."  This  satisfied  him.  Simi- 
lar feats  ha^l  probably  often  satisfied  him  before. 
Visible  effects  of  power  in  the  production,  apparently, 
of  living  animals,  were  manifest  to  his  senses.  The 
sequel,  in  the  fact  that  'Aaron's  rod  swallowed  up 
their  rods,"  belonged  to  another  category.  If  he  re- 
garded it  as  the  moderns  regard  written  language,  he 
would  be  satisfied  by  calling  it  "figurative,"  or  saying 


200  THE   MESSIAH 

it  was  equivocal,  and  had   no   fixed   or   determinate 
meaning. 

The  nature  of  the  conflict,  and  the  visibility  of  the 
instruments  and  results,  are  thus  sufficiently  apparent. 
To  the  view  of  the  beholders,  the  coincidence  of  the 
power  of  the  unseen  agent  on  the  one  side,  with  the 
act  of  Aaron  and  his  rod  as  an  instrument ;  and  on  the 
other,  with  the  acts  of  the  magicians  and  their  rods, 
appeared  alike.  From  aught  that  was  apparent,  if 
Moses  and  Aaron  wrought  their  miracle  by  the  power 
and  will  of  Jehovah,  the  magicians  wrought  theirs  by 
the  power  and  will  of  their  god.  It  was  a  miracle 
transcending  the  efforts  of  mortal  power,  and  superior 
to  that  by  which  the  magicians  acted,  that  Pharaoh 
required.  Nothing  else  would,  meet  the  case.  But  as 
he  viewed  it,  this  experiment  was  not  conclusive. 

At  the  next  trial,  Aaron,  in  the  presence  of  Pharaoh 
and  his  servants,  "  lifted  up  the  rod  and  smote  the 
waters  that  were  in  the  river,  and  they  were  turned 
into  blood."  The  fish  died,  "and  there  was  blood 
throughout  all  the  land  of  Egypt."  "And  the  magicians 
did  so  with  their  enchantments,  and  Pharaoh's  heart 
was  hardened."  The  experiment  of  the  magicians,  in 
this  case,  must  have  been  on  a  very  limited  scale,  for 
it  appears  from  the  narrative  that  there  was  no  water 
to  be  had  for  seven  days,  but  such  as  was  obtained 
by  digging  near  the  river.  Still,  if  they  apparently 
produced  the  effect  on  ever  so  small  a  quantity,  those 
who  trusted  in  them  would  be  satisfied.  The  Nile  was 
a  leading  object  of  Egyptian  idolatry,  as  an  instru- 
ment and  emblem  of  the  munificence  of  the  god  of 
that  idolatry,  whose  superiority  and  power  were 
argued  from  the  vast  benefits  occasioned  by  the  river, 


IN  MOSES  AND  THE   PROPHETS.  201 

without  the  aid  or  inconvenience  of  clouds  and  rain. 
The  miracle  was  therefore  a  public  and  signal  rebuke 
of  their  idolatry,  affecting  directly  every  inhabitant 
of  the  land,  and  a  stupendous  demonstration  of  the 
supremacy  of  Jehovah.  But  the  arts  and  instrument- 
ality of  the  magicians  counteracted  its  effect. 

The  ensuing  trial,  which  constituted  the  second 
plague,  covered  the  land,  the  houses,  furniture,  utensils, 
and  the  people  themselves,  with  myriads  of  loathsome 
frogs,  one  of  the  sacred  animals  of  their  idol  system, 
and  of  the  progeny  of  their  sacred  river,  consecrated 
to  the  sun,  and,  by  reason  of  its  inflations,  deemed  an 
emblem  of  inspiration.  They  were  thus  confounded 
by  the  insupportable  multitude  and  offensiveness  of 
one  of  the  objects  of  their  idol  worship,  sent  forth  by 
another,  as  if  purposely  to  punish  them.  After  the 
usual  announcements  and  directions,  "Aaron  stretched 
out  his  hand  over  the  waters  of  Egypt ;  and  the  frogs 
came  up  and  covered  the  land  of  Egypt :  and  the 
magicians  did  so  with  their  enchantments,  and  brought 
up  frogs  upon  the  land  of  Egypt."  Their  enchant- 
ments in  this  case  seem  to  have  had  no  favorable  effect. 
The  frogs  brought  up  by  them  must  have  aggravated 
the  already  intolerable  evil.  Pharaoh  begged  Moses  to 
entreat  Jehovah  to  remove  the  plague,  and  promised  in 
that  case  to  let  the  people  go.  Moses  consented,  so 
that  Pharaoh,  by  the  counter  miracle,  "might  know  that 
there  is  none  like  unto  Jehovah,  the  Elohe  of  the 
Hebrews." 

The  third  plague,  more  tormenting  to  the  persons  of 
the  Egyptians  than  the  preceding,  baffled  and  silenced 
the  magicians.  "Aaron  stretched  out  his  hand  with 
his  rod,  and  smote  the  dust  of  the  earth,  and  it  became 
lice  in  man  and  in  beast ;  and  the  dust  of  the  land  be- 
9* 


202  THE   MESSIAH 

came  lice  throughout  all  the  land  of  Egypt,  And  the 
magicians  did  so  with  their  enchantments  to  bring  forth 
lice,  but  the}-  could  not.  Then  the  magicians  said  unto 
Pharaoh,  This  is  the  finger  of  Elohim."  But  his  heart 
was  hardened,  and  he  hearkened  not  unto  them. 

In  the  preceding  instances,  Pharaoh  and  the  ma- 
gicians had  been  forewarned  as  to  what  kind  of  evil 
was  to  be  inflicted,  and  had  time  to  prepare  their  en- 
chantments. When  (the  sun  excepted)  the  chief  of  all 
the  natural  objects  of  their  idolatry  was  to  be  changed 
into  blood,  so  as  to  destroy  the  fish,  and  put  a  stop  to 
all  the  benefits  for  which  they  deified  it,  the  miracle 
was  in  itself  calculated  to  be  perfectly  conclusive,  and 
Moses  Avas  directed  to  say  to  Pharaoh,  "  In  this  thou 
shalt  know  that  I  am  Jehovah."  And  when  the  pro- 
geny of  their  sacred  river  were  to  be  brought  up  in 
such  masses  as  to  cover  the  whole  land  and  all  the 
objects  in  it,  so  that  they  could  not  move  without  de- 
strojung  those  deified  creatures,  they  were  specially 
forewarned,  and  had  time  to  arrange  and  work  their 
enchantments  with  as  much  success  as  in  our  own  day 
attends  the  workers  of  Popish  miracles. 

But  in  this  last  instance  they  had  no  previous  notice. 
It  was  an  experiment,  doubtless,  that  they  had  never 
tried ;  they  could  do  nothing  without  enchantments ; 
they  had  no  jugglery  prepared  for  such  a  case ;  they 
were  baffled,  disgraced,  and  thrust  aside :  and  in  what 
follows,  the  utter  and  desperate  malignity  of  sin  is 
shown  in  such  obstinacy,  hardihood,  and  perseverance 
on  the  part  of  Pharaoh  and  his  people,  as  has  a  paral- 
lel only  in  Satan  and  his  angels.  Occasionally,  indeed, 
under  the  most  appalling  terrors  of  mind  and  sufferings 
of  body,  conscious  that  Jehovah  had  absolute  power 
over  all  creatures  and  all  elements,  and  that  new  and 


IN   MOSES  AND  THE   PROPHETS.  203 

unknown  horrors  awaited  them,  some  momentary  con- 
cessions were  extorted  from  their  physical  fears  and 
agonies. 

On  the  infliction  of  the  plague  of  flies,  (another  of 
the  deified  or  idolized  representatives  of  Baal,)  Pharaoh, 
to  convince  him  that  Jehovah  was  the  same  as  the 
Elohe  of  the  Hebrews,  and  that  his  supremacy  and 
power  were  universal  over  all  the  earth,  was  told  that 
while  this  plague  should  fall  upon  him,  and  upon  his 
servants  and  people,  and  into  their  houses,  and  upon 
the  ground,  it  should  not  touch  the  Hebrews.  "I  will 
sever  the  land  of  Goshen,  in  which  my  people  dwell, 
that  no  swarms  of  flies  shall  be  there ;  to  the  end  thou 
mayest  know  that  I  am  Jehovah  in  the  midst  of  the 
earths  In  this,  as  in  the  case  of  the  frogs,  and  equally, 
it  is  presumed,  in  the  case  of  the  lice,  they  were  ne- 
cessitated to  destroy  multitudes  of  idolized  creatures, 
representative  of  Baal,  and  thus  by  their  own  acts, 
as  well  as  by  their  sufferings,  to  show  that  he  was  not 
able  to  protect  his  representatives,  or  those  who  wor- 
shipped him  through  them.  Pharaoh  hypocritically 
relented  till,  on  the  entreaty  of  Moses,  Jehovah  re- 
moved this  plague. 

In  the  inflictions  which  followed,  each  was  more 
appalling  and  terrific  than  those  which  preceded.  They 
were  introduced  by  special  announcements  of  their 
object,  their  intensity,  and  their  effects;  a  set  time  was 
specified  for  their  occurrence,  and  in  each  case  the  land 
of  Groshen  was  exempted.  They  were  such  as  most 
unequivocally  to  demonstrate  the  almighty  power  of 
Jehovah,  the  Teason  of  their  being  visited  upon  the 
Egyptians,  the  nature  and  bearings  of  the  controversy, 
and  the  antagonist  position  and  character  of  the  par- 
ties.     Jehovah,    displaying  his   prerogatives   and  his 


204  THE   MESSIAH 

righteousness  in  the  visible  effects  of  his  power,  "exe- 
cuted judgment  against  all  the  gods  of  Egypt."  By 
the  fifth  plague,  the  idolized  animals,  models  of  the 
molten  calves,  Avith  all  the  cattle  of  Egypt,  were  de- 
stroyed. By  the  sixth,  the  sacred  persons,  the  priests, 
magicians,  sorcerers,  with  all  the  people,  high  and  low, 
were  tormented  with  boils  and  blains,  so  that  "the 
magicians  could  not  stand  before  Moses,  because  of  the 
boils."  This  being  ineffectual,  the  grounds  of  the  con- 
troversy were  again  particularized,  and  more  terrible 
inflictions  threatened.  "I  will  at  this  time  send  all 
my  plagues  upon  thine  heart,  and  upon  thy  servants, 
and  upon  thy  people ;  that  thou  mayest  know  that 
there  is  none  like  me  in  all  the  earth."  Then  Jehovah 
"sent  thunder,  and  hail,  and  fire;  and  the  fire  [or  light- 
ning] ran  upon  the  ground;  and  the  hail  smote  man 
and  beast,  and  herbs  and  trees ;  only  in  the  land  of 
Goshen  there  was  no  hail." 

The  air,  which  was  the  medium  of  the  pestilential 
boils,  and  was  an  element  of  this  terrific  storm,  un- 
precedented in  Egypt  or  elsewhere,  was,  equally  with 
the  other  elements,  water  and  fire,  idolized  as  an  in- 
strument, medium,  or  vehicle  of  Baal;  fire  being  arro- 
gated as  his  attribute  or  element,  and  the  sun  as  his 
shekina :  and  being  so  regarded  by  the  Egyptians,  it 
was  shown  in  the  most  awful  and  appalling  manner 
that  Jehovah  exercised  the  most  absolute  control  over 
them.  Pharaoh,  under  the  impulse  of  amazement  and 
terror,  sent  for  Moses  and  Aaron,  and  said:  "I  have 
sinned  this  time :  Jehovah  is  righteous,  and  I  and  un- 
people are  wicked.  Entreat  Jehovah  (for  it  is  enough) 
that  there  be  no  more  mighty  thunderings  and  hail, 
and  I  will  let  you  go."  Moses  replied,  promising  to  do 
this,  and   that  the  storm  should  cease,  that  Pharaoh 


IN  MOSES   AND  THE   PROPHETS.  205 

"might  know  how  that  the  earth  is  Jehovah's;"  that 
is,  that  he  might  be  convinced  and  know  that  the  earth, 
the  elements,  and  all  creatures  were  Jehovah's,  and 
not  Baal's,  and  that  he  might  renounce  Baal,  and  ac- 
knowledge Jehovah.  But  "when  Pharaoh  saw  that 
the  rain,  and  the  hail,  and  the  thunders  were  ceased, 
he  sinned  yet  more,  and  hardened  his  heart,  he  and 
his  servants."  No  demonstration  was  or  would  be 
sufficient  to  end  the  controversy,  so  long  as  the  re- 
lentless Adversary  behind  the  scenes  could,  through 
their  base  propensities  and  depraved  wills,  delude  and 
instigate  his  Egyptian  vassals.  The  lesson  to  be  taught 
to  the  Israelites  and  others,  concerned  not  those  hard- 
ened mortals  only,  but  their  subtle  deceiver,  and  they, 
as  subjects  and  instruments  of  his. 

"When  the  plague  of  locusts  was  threatened,  Pharaoh's 
servants  remonstrated  with  him,  and  urged  him  to  let 
the  people  go ;  and  he  sent  for  Moses  and  Aaron,  and 
proposed  that  the  men  should  go,  and  leave  their  fami- 
lies and  flocks  behind.  This  being  totally  refused,  they 
were  fearfully  scourged  by  another  of  their  idolized 
insects,  in  the  destruction  of  every  herb  and  plant,  and 
all  that  the  hail  had  left.  This  extorted  from  Pharaoh 
another  confession:  "I  have  sinned  against  Jehovah 
your  Elohe,  and  against  you.  Now  therefore  forgive, 
I  pray  thee,  my  sin  only  this  once,  and  entreat  Jehovah 
your  Elohe  that  he  may  take  away  from  me  this  death 
only." 

Next  the  plague  of  dense  total  darkness  for  three 
days  was  sent  upon  all  the  Egyptians,  so  that  "they 
saw  not  one  another,  neither  rose  any  from  his  place." 
Thus  the  chief  visible  object  of  their  idolatrous  hom- 
age, the  imputed  residence  and  shekina  of  Baal,  was 
excluded  from  their  view,  and  all  acts  of  idolatry  and 


206  THE   MESSIAH 

access  to  images  precluded.  Pharaoh  now  showed  a 
degree  of  angry  desperation ;  and  after  offering  to  let 
the  people  go  without  their  flocks,  and  those  terms 
being  rejected,  he  drove  Moses  from  his  presence,  and 
threatened  his  life  if  he  saw  him  again. 

There  remained  yet  one  more  plague,  the  instant 
destruction  of  all  the  first-born  of  Egypt  at  the  dead 
of  night,  which  so  terrified  the  whole  population  with 
dread  of  immediate  and  utter  extermination,  that  with 
one  voice  they  urged  the  departure  without  delay  of 
all  the  Israelites,  with  all  their  flocks  and  goods,  and 
with  whatever  gifts  and  supplies  they  wished.  "And 
they  took  their  journey ;  and  Jehovah  went  before  them 
by  day  in  a  pillar  of  a  cloud,  to  lead  them  the  way ; 
and  by  night  in  a  pillar  of  fire,  to  give  them  light,  to 
go  by  day  and  night." 

Thus  the  Messenger  Jehovah,  who  introduced  this 
train  of  visible  wonders  by  appearing  to  Moses  in  the 
burning  bush,  signalized  the  triumphant  rescue  and 
march  of  his  people  out  of  Egypt  by  reappearing,  and 
going  before  them  in  the  cloud-like  appendage,  visibly 
luminous  as  fire  by  night,  and  as  an  irradiant  form  by 
day,  which  continued  as  the  constant  signal  of  his  pre- 
sence during  the  whole  period  of  their  wanderings  in 
the  wilderness. 

But  their  departure,  which  took  place  in  the  night, 
was  no  sooner  made  known  to  the  Egyptians  than  "the 
heart  of  Pharaoh  and  of  his  servants  was  turned  against 
them."  They  reproached  themselves  for  having  let 
them  go,  and  were  infatuated  to  pursue  and  bring  them 
back.  "And  all  the  horses  and  chariots  of  Pharaoh, 
and  his  horsemen  and  his  army  pursued  and  overtook 
them  at  the  Red  Sea."  Still  more  stupendous  exhibi- 
tions of  power,  supremacy  and  triumph  on  the  one  side, 


IN   MOSES  AND   THE    PROPHETS.  207 

and  of  incurable  and  fatal  delusion  on  the  other,  were 
required  for  the  instruction  and  conviction  of  that  and 
succeeding  ages.  "And  Melach  (the)  Elohim,  which 
went  before  the  camp  of  Israel,  removed  and  went 
behind  them ;  and  the  pillar  of  the  cloud  went  from 
before  their  face,  and  stood  behind  them,  and  it  came 
between  the  camp  of  the  Egyptians  and  the  camp  of 
Israel ;  and  it  was  a  cloud  and  darkness  to  them,  but  it 
gave  light  by  night  to  these,  so  that  the  one  came  not 
near  the  other  all  the  night." 

Thus  the  final  trial  was  arranged  and  conducted 
under  the  visible  direction  of  the  Messenger  Jehovah. 
The  sea  was  divided,  and  the  hosts  of  Israel  went  over 
as  on  dry  land.  Pharaoh's  chariots  and  army  followed. 
"Jehovah  looked  unto  the  host  of  the  Egyptians 
through  the  pillar  of  fire  and  of  the  cloud,  and  troubled 
them;"  threw  them  into  consternation  by  "taking  off 
their  chariot  wheels,"  and  by  causing  the  waters  to 
return,  overwhelmed  and  drowned  them  in  the  midst 
of  the  sea.  "  Thus  Jehovah  saved  Israel,  and  Israel 
saw  that  great  work  which  Jehovah  did  upon  the 
Egyptians  ;  and  the  people  feared  Jehovah,  and  believed 
Jehovah  and  his  servant  Moses." 

The  greatness  and  wonderful n ess  of  this  deliverance, 
as  referred  to  and  celebrated  in  other  parts  of  Scripture, 
if  regarded,  not  as  a  signal  and  never-to-be-forgotten 
triumph  of  the  Messenger  Jehovah  over  Satan,  and  the 
agents  of  his  idolatry  and  imposture,  but  simply  in  its 
relation  to  the  numbers,  power,  or  unassisted  skill  of 
the  Egyptians,  are  out  of  all  proportion  to  the  result. 
Instead  of  such  an  array  of  preparations,  such  threats 
and  remonstrances,  such  a  succession  and  selection  of 
miracles  and  plagues,  had  the  object  been  only  to  loosen 


208  THE   MESSIAH 

their  covetous  hold  on  the  labor  and  service  of  Israel, 
a  single  blow  might  as  easily  have  destroyed  them  all 
in  a  moment  as  their  first-born,  or  whelmed  them  in  the 
Nile,  as  in  the  Eed  Sea.  But  their  idolatry  denied  the 
supremacy,  prerogatives,  and  rights  of  Jehovah,  and 
ascribed  them,  not  to  irrational  animals  and  senseless 
elements,  except  as  vehicles  and  mediums  of  homage, 
but  to  an  intelligent  and  powerful  rival,  competitor, 
and  pretender  to  the  throne  and  government  of  the 
world,  who  claimed,  prescribed,  and  received  their  wor- 
ship, arrogated  the  credit  of  bestowing  the  blessings  of 
providence,  sanctioned  the  indulgence  of  their  passions, 
instigated  their  magical  delusions,  and  had  their  confi- 
dence as  to  his  power  to  protect  them.  It  was  to  vin- 
dicate himself,  and  to  confound  that  arrogant  pretender, 
that  Jehovah  vouchsafed  these  demonstrations  in  the 
view  of  the  Hebrews,  who  needed  the  lesson  which  they 
taught,  and  in  a  way  to  be  rehearsed  and  known  among 
the  Canaanites  and  other  nations  of  the  earth.  It  was 
a  marked  and  memorable  scene  in  the  progress  of  that 
great  antagonism  which  hitherto  has  constituted  the 
basis,  and,  however  obscured  to  the  blinded  view  of 
the  actors,  or  concealed  by  their  craft  and  policy,  has 
furnished  the  elements  of  history,  and  is  yet  in  the  view 
of  the  whole  universe,  with  all  the  accompaniments  of 
publicity  and  conclusiveness,  to  have  its  issue. 

It  would  require  a  chapter  to  refer  to  all  the  descrip- 
tions and  allusions  commemorative  of  this  scene,  in  the 
triumphant  song  of  Moses,  recalled  and  sung,  Eev.  xv. 
3,  by  the  redeemed,  in  celebration  of  their  resembling 
deliverance,  to  the  praise  of  the  Lamb  as  their  Bedeemer, 
whom  they  address  as  the  Lord  God  Almighty' — Je- 
hovah, the  Elohim  ;  and  in  the  Psalms,  exxxv.,  exxxvi., 


EST   MOSES  AND  THE   PEOPHETS.  209 

and  other  Scriptures,  where  to  Jehovah  are  referred  the 
wonders  done  in  Egypt  and  in  the  wilderness,  which  by 
Moses  are  ascribed  to  him  as  Melach  Jehovah. 

But,  waiving  these  references,  it  maybe  noticed  as  an 
additional  evidence  that  it  was  the  Delegated  One,  the 
Personal  Word,  who,  after  appearing  visibly  to  Moses, 
and  investing  him  with  his  ministerial  office,  executed 
those  wondrous  demonstrations  in  Egypt,  that,  prior  to 
the  signal  exercise  of  his  power  and  justice  by  which 
he  destroyed  all  the  first-born  of  the  opposing  party, 
he  instituted  for  the  benefit  and  as  auxiliary  to  the 
faith  of  his  people,  the  ordinance  of  the  passover ;  of 
which,  the  slaughter  of  the  paschal  lamb,  the  sprinkling 
of  the  blood  as  the  means  of  exemption  from  death, 
and  other  details,  had  a  counterpart  in  the  circum- 
stances, reference,  import,  and  Scripture  narrative  of 
his  sacrifice  of  himself,  Christ  our  Passover  sacrificed 
for  us ;  the  Lamb  of  God,  slain  virtually  and  in  effect, 
as  by  covenant  and  oath,  from  the  foundation  of  the 
world. 


210  THE   MESSIAH 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

Further  Illustration  of  the  Antagonism — Idolatry  a  Counterfeit  Rival 
System  in  opposition  to  the  Messiah  and  the  True  Worship — Its  Origin 
and  Mature — Satan  the  God  of  it — The  Tower  of  Babel  devoted  to 
his  Worship — That  Worship  extonded  thence  over  the  Earth  at  the 
Dispersion. 

The  illustration  of  this  mighty  and  ceaseless  conflict 
requires  particular  reference  to  the  system  of  idolatry 
by  which,  in  opposition  and  rivalship  to  the  worship 
and  service  of  Jehovah,  Satan  organized  his  followers 
under  Nimrod ;  and  on  their  dispersion  to  different 
regions  of  the  globe,  enslaved  and  held  in  bondage  all 
the  tribes  and  nations  which  they  planted,  and  to  which 
he  at  length  seduced  the  kings,  princes,  priests,  and  all 
but  a  remnant  of  the  chosen  people.  It  was  one  com- 
prehensive antagonist  rival  system,  copied  and  counter- 
feited in  all  its  leading  features  from  the  doctrines  and 
ritual  revealed  to  the  race  at  first,  and  renewedly 
taught  and  practised  by  Noah,  on  his  egress  from  the 
ark.  In  what  forms  the  great  Adversary  had  instigated 
the  corruption  and  wickedness,  and  led  on  the  masses 
of  the  race  before  the  Deluge  to  their  total  destruction 
by  that  instrument  of  Jehovah's  power,  is  but  faintly 
intimated.  The  earth  was  filled  with  violence ;  and  it 
is  not  unlikely  that  Cain's  example  in  presenting,  con- 
trary to  the  Divine  command  and  the  ritual  prescrip- 
tion, an  offering  not  of  blood,  no4  typical  of  the  expia- 
tory sacrifice  of  Messiah,  the  promised  Son,  but  an 
offering  intended  for  the  occasion,  by  its  nature,  and  in 
contrast  to  that  of  Abel,  to  express  his  denial  and  re- 


IN   MOSES   AND   THE   PROPHETS.  211 

jection  of  the  typical  sacrifice  and  its  antitype ;  and  his 
sullen  and  arrogant  denial  of  his  being  in  the  wrong, 
and  needing  an  atonement  and  forgiveness ;  and  the 
example  of  his  persecuting,  malevolence,  in  killing  his 
brother,  may  furnish  a  clue  to  the  theory  and  practice 
of  his  party  afterwards. 

But  while  Noah,  conformably  to  the  earlier  practice, 
erected  an  altar  to  Jehovah,  offered  typical  offerings, 
and  otherwise  complied  with  the  ritual,  professed  the 
doctrines,  and  exercised  the  faith  of  the  revealed  sys- 
tem of  religion,  and  was  a  preacher  of  righteousness ; 
his  early  descendants,  like  those  of  Adam,  were  soon 
separated  into  opposite  parties  of  true  and  false  wor- 
shippers. 

The  false  or  idolatrous  party,  originally  characterized 
as  the  seed  of  the  serpent,  the  followers  and  servants  of 
Satan,  having,  under  Nimrod — a  name  signifying  rebel — 
united  in  their  antagonist  scheme,  commenced  the  erec- 
tion of  the  tower  of  Babel — otherwise  Bel,  Belus,  or 
Baal — in  Babylon. 

From  a  comparison  of  the  terms  employed  with 
reference  to  this  structure,  and  the  object  and  nature 
of  the  idolatry  to  which  it  was  devoted ;  its  history  and 
that  of  the  structures  and  idolatry  of  other  countries 
which  were  copied  from  the  model  here  furnished  ;  the 
descriptions  in  the  Scriptures  of  that  idolatry,  both  as 
practised  by  the  heathen  and  by  the  Israelites,  and  the 
references  to  it  by  Herodotus,  Thucydides,  and  other 
secular  historians,  the  following  summary  statement  in 
the  present  and  two  succeeding  chapters  is  believed  to 
be  well  founded. 

This  tower  or  temple  was  originally  destined,  as  it 
was  afterwards  devoted,  to  the  worship  of  the  great 
Adversary,  who  palmed  himself  upon  his  followers  as 


212  THE   MESSIAH 

god  of  this  world,  god  of  providence,  bestower  of  bene- 
fits and  blessings ;  the  good  principle  or  intelligence  of 
the  Babylonians,  Persians,  and  other  heathen  nations, 
by  whom  he  was  regarded  as  a'  creature  intermediate 
between  the  supreme,  self-existent,  invisible  Being,  and 
the  human  race,  and  in  that  character  as  creator  and 
ruler  of  the  world;  having  his  residence  in  the  sun  as 
his  tabernacle  and  shekina,  and  manifesting  himself 
locally  and  at  pleasure  to  his  votaries  in  fire,  as  his  ele- 
ment, and  as  the  medium  of  their  worship,  sacrifices, 
incense,  &c,  and  in  light,  and  in  the  effects  of  the  solar 
heat  upon  vegetation,  and  otherwise  as  causing  the 
chief  blessings  and  comforts  of  life.  These  visible 
objects  and  benefits  appealed  directly  to  the  senses  and 
the  unrestrained  passions  of  his  followers,  who,  being 
at  enmity  with  the  righteous  party,  and  irreconcilably 
opposed  to  the  doctrines,  duties,  and  restraints  of  their 
religion ;  and  yet,  as  well  from  social  considerations  as 
from  their  natures  as  dependent  creatures,  requiring  a 
substitute,  a  rival  antagonist  system,  and  a  head  and 
leader  consistent  with  it,  may  well  be  supposed  to  have 
entered  into  this  sj'stem  with  a  zeal,  a  pertinacity  and 
desperateness,  not  exceeded  by  their  successors  in  Baby- 
lon or  elsewhere,  nor  even  by  that  of  the  apostate  Jews, 
who,  in  direct  opposition  to  the  doctrines  and  worship 
of  Jehovah,  established  in  his  temple  this  idol  system, 
witli  its  emblems  and  rites,  and  the  public  and  formal 
worship  of  its  god  in  the  sun,  most  boldly  and  im- 
piously turning  their  faces  to  the  East,  and  their  backs 
to  the  visible  Shekina  in  the  holy  place. 

The  system  of  corruption,  delusion,  and  bondage,  by 
which  the  great  Adversary  commenced  his  second  ex- 
periment of  lordship  over  his  party,  and  of  renewed  and 
perpetual  hostility  towards  the  righteous,  and  treason, 


IN   MOSES  AND   THE   PROPHETS.  213 

rebellion,  impiety,  and  insult  towards  Jehovah  their 
Elohe,  required  not  only  to  be  such  as  would  gratify 
their  depraved  hearts  and  grovelling  passions,  so  as  to 
insure  success  to  his  craft  and  subtlety,  but  to  be  con- 
trived, adopted,  and  put  in  practice  so  as  to  unite, 
combine,  and  govern  them,  as  soon  as  possible  after  the 
repeopling  of  the  earth  commenced. 

That  it  was  in  fact  contrived,  adopted,  and  practised 
prior  to  the  dispersion,  is  proved  by  the  resumption  and 
practice  of  it  by  the  dispersed  tribes  and  nations  both 
in  the  Eastern  and  Western  hemispheres :  and  that  the 
nature,  object,  doctrines,  rites,  bearings,  and  ends  of  it, 
were  originally  well  understood,  and  matter  of  common 
intelligence  and  notoriety,  is  proved  by  the  close  resem- 
blance of  the  system,  as  established  in  other  quarters  of 
the  world,  to  the  model  metropolitan  establishment  in 
Babylon. 

This  original  tower  or  temple — which  there  is  no  rea- 
sonable ground  to  doubt  continued  near  two  thousand 
years,  till  Xerxes  pillaged  and  destroyed  it,  together 
with  the  structures  around  it  which  had  been  added  by 
Nebuchadnezzar — was  eix  hundred  feet  square  at  the 
base,  and  six  hundred  feet  in  height,  its  cubic  contents 
far  exceeding  those  of  the  largest  of  the  pyramids.  It 
was  devoted  to  the  worship  of  the  god  of  their  idolatry, 
the  intelligence  to  whom  they  ascribed  the  works  of 
creation  and  providence,  under  the  names  Bel,  Baal, 
Beelzebub,  and  other  designations  of  Satan ;  and  also  to 
astronomical  observations,  which  appear  to  have  led  to 
the  appropriation,  subsequently,  of  the  moon  to  Astarte, 
consort  of  Baal  and  Queen  of  heaven,  the  prototype — not 
in  respect  to  her  moral  character,  which  was  wholly  op- 
posite, but  to  her  mediating  office — of  the  deified  Mary 


214  THE    MESSIAH 

of  the  Papists ;  and  of  the  planets  and  stars,  to  subor- 
dinate auxiliary  mediating  demons  of  different  species. 
The  projectors  and  architects  of  this  great  paragon 
and  wonder  of  the  world  were  not  a  horde  of  ignorant, 
wandering  nomades.  They  had  knowledge  and  arts 
adequate  to  an  undertaking,  whether  considered  merely 
as  a  physical  undertaking,  or  in  connection  with  the 
stupendous  and  enduring  sj'stem  of  imposture,  impiety, 
and  misery  it  was  devoted  to,  which  has  not  been 
equalled  since :  and  which  may  well  be  conceived  of  as 
sufficient  to  occasion  the  local  and  special  interposition 
of  the  Messenger  Jehovah  to  confound  their  language 
and  scatter  them  abroad  upon  the  face  of  all  the  earth. 
Their  astronomy,  and  probably  their  geometry  and  other 
abstruse  branches  of  knowledge,  were,  at  least  in  respect 
to  their  leading  principles,  not  inferior  to  those  of  the 
present  day.  Prideaux,  speaking  of  this  tower,  which 
he  holds  to  be  the  same  with  that  destroyed  by  Xerxes, 
observes,  that  "when  Alexander  took  Babylon,  Callis- 
thenes  the  philosopher,  who  accompanied  him  thither, 
found  they  had  astronomical  observations  for  nineteen 
hundred  and  three  years  backward  from  that  time,  which 
carrieth  the  account  as  high  as  the  one  hundred  and 
fifteenth  year  after  the  flood,  which  was  within  fifteen 
years  after  the  Tower  of  Babel  was  built.  For  the  con- 
fusion of  tongues,  which  followed  immediately  after  the 
building  of  that  tower,  happened  in  the  year  Avherein 
Peleg  was  born,  which  was  an  hundred  and  one  years 
after  the  flood ;  and  fourteen  years  after  that,  those  ob- 
servations began.  This  account  Callisthenes  sent  from 
Babylon  into  Greece,  to  his  master  Aristotle,"  &c. 
(Book  II.,  part  1.) 


I 


IN    MOSES   AND   THE    PROPHETS.  215 


CHAPTER  XX. 

The  system  of  Idolatry  founded  on  a  perversion  of  the  Doctrine  of 
Mediation — References  to  the  Worshippers  of  Baal,  Israelite  and 
Pagan. 

This  system  of  idolatry  was  founded  on  the  doc- 
trine of  mediation,  which  was  the  basis  of  the  revealed 
system  of  true  religion.  But  in  the  application  of  that 
doctrine,  idolatry  exhibited  an  entire  perversion,  ascrib- 
ing the  mediatorial  office  and  relations,  not  to  Messiah, 
the  Messenger  Jehovah,  the  one  only  Mediator  between 
God  and  man ;  but  to  his  adversary,  antagonist,  and 
competitor,  who  emphatically  in  this  respect,  and  as 
creator  and  administrator  of  providence,  arrogated  the 
office,  prerogatives,  relations  and  works  of  Jehovah,  the 
delegated  Personal  Word. 

This  consideration  alone  affords  a  clue  to  any  intel- 
ligent understanding  of  the  system  in  its  details,  or  of 
the  succeeding  history  of  the  antagonism ;  of  the  enor- 
mity and  turpitude  of  idolatry  as  a  crime ;  and  of  the 
amazing  retributions  and  judgments  which  it  called 
down  upon  the  Canaanites  and  other  nations  devoted  to 
the  worship  of  Baal,  and  upon  the  Israelites  on  their 
apostatizing  to  that  worship. 

The  doctrine  of  mediation  and  of  one  Divine  Mediator, 
as  it  involved  the  relations  of  men  to  the  Creator,  moral 
and  providential  Ruler  and  Redeemer,  was  the  basis 
and  prime  element  in  the  patriarchal  and  Levitical 
economies,  which  prescribed  a  religion  not  merely  for 
dependent,  but  for  fallen,  guilty  creatures,  no  acts  of 


216  THE   MESSIAH 

whom,  whether  of  obedience  in  performing  ordinary- 
duties,  or  of  religious  homage,  sacrifices,  prayers  or 
offerings,  could  be  accepted  unless  rendered  in  the 
exercise  of  faith  in  the  appointed  Mediator,  and  a  con- 
sciousness of  entire  dependence  on  his  merits,  and  the 
efficacy  of  his  mediation,  as  the  only  ground  of  accept- 
ance, and  of  the  bestowment  of  blessings  on  them. 
Hence  the  typical  sacrifices,  and  all  the  rites,  ordinances, 
and  prescriptions  of  that  system. 

But  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  and  the  consciousness 
of  dependence,  helplessness  and  misery  in  those  who 
turned  away  from  the  true  worship,  a  sense  of  the  neces- 
sity of  mediation  and  a  mediator  must  naturally  have 
been  felt  by  them,  as  well  as  by  those  of  the  other  partj 
Without  a  sense  of  that  necessity  they  would  neither 
have  projected  nor  adopted  any  religion  whatever.  It 
is  the  sole  basis  of  all  false  religions.  Those  who  have 
it  not,  must  be  classed  with  atheists  or  deists.  The  JeAvs 
who  nominally  reject  the  doctrine,  and  really  reject  the 
true  Mediator,  palpably  contradict  and  pervert  the 
religion  which  they  j)rofess,  and  virtually  assign  to  their 
rites  and  forms  the  office  of  mediation. 

Nothing  can  be  more  unlikely  or  more  absurd  than 
the  supposition  that  nations,  tribes,  or  individuals  should 
contrive  or  adopt  or  j)ersevere  in  the  practice  of  a  false 
religion,  without  a  notion  more  or  less  correct,  and  a 
conviction  more  or  less  strong  and  effective,  of  the  ex- 
istence of  a  Supreme  Being,  to  whose  will  the  striking 
events  of  providence,  the  vicissitudes  in  their  own 
experience,  their  acts,  their  prayers,  their  fears  and 
hopes,  had  a  real,  though  it  might  be  a  mysterious  and 
incomprehensible,  reference.  But  with  such  conviction, 
their  false  religion,  naturally  in  theory,  and  necessarily 
in  order  to  such  effect  upon  their  hopes  and  fears  as  to 


IN   MOSES'  AND  THE   PROPHETS.  217 

induce  their  perseverance  in  it,  refers  ultimately  to  that 
mysterious,  unseen,  and,  without  intermediate  agencies 
and  instruments  of  mediation,  inaccessible  Being.  Such 
fears  and  such  conviction,  coupled  with  the  uncertain- 
ties of  the  future,  and  with  impending  or  foreboded 
evils,  are,  like  instincts,  deep  seated,  in  the  very  nature 
of  man.  And  hence,  with  reference  to  the  false  system 
under  consideration,  the  facility,  on  the  one  hand,  with 
which  imposture,  delusion,  and  desperate  infatuation 
might  take  effect ;  and  the  absurdity,  on  the  other  hand, 
of  supposing  that  Baal,  whose  tabernacle  in  the  sun,  and 
whose  manifestations  in  fire,  light,  air  or  water  were 
ever  visibly  or  sensibly  present  and  familiar ;  or  that 
any  of  the  animals  consecrated  to  him,  or  of  the  repre- 
sentative material  images  of  animate  or  inanimate, 
rational  or  irrational  forms,  called  idols,  were  ever  mis- 
taken by  any  of  his  worshippers  for  that  Being  whom 
they  regarded  as  supreme,  ever  invisible,  and  far  removed 
from  immediate  intercourse  and  familiarity  with  mor- 
tals. Such  a  mistake  would  argue  that  the  Egyptians, 
Greeks,  Romans,  Asiatics,  Polynesians,  Mexicans,  and 
all  other  pagans,  as  well  as  the  devotees  of  Popery,  were 
more  senseless  than  the  animals,  or  even  the  material 
forms  and  figures,  before  which  they  bowed  themselves 
down,  and  presented  their  gifts  and  offerings. 

But  not  to  waste  words  on  so  plain  a  matter,  let  it  be 
illustrated  by  reference  to  Scripture. 

The  Israelites  were  so  terrified  by  the  thunders  and 
lightnings  at  the  giving  of  the  Law,  when  Jehovah 
spoke  to  them  directly,  that  "they  removed  and  stood 
afar  off;  and  they  said  unto  Moses :  Speak  thou  with  us, 
and  we  will  hear ;  but  let  not  Elohim  speak  with  us, 
lest  we  die.  And  Moses  said  unto  the  people,  Fear 
not,  for  (the)  Elohim  has  come  to  prove  you,  and  that 
10 


218  THE   MESSIAH 

his  fear  may  be  before  your  faces,  that  ye  sin  not." 
Ex.  xx.  Moses,  referring  to  this,  Deut.  v.,  says:  "Je- 
hovah," that  is,  the  Messenger  Jehovah,  "  talked  with 
you  face  to  face  in  the  mount  out  of  the  midst  of  the 
fire,  (I  stood  between  Jehovah  and  you  at  that  time,  to 
show  you  the  word  of  Jehovah :  for  ye  were  afraid  by 
reason  of  the  fire,  and  went  not  up  into  the  mount;) 
saying,  I  am  Jehovah  thy  Elohe,  which  brought  thee 
out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  from  the  house  of  bondage. 
Thou  shalt  have  none  other  Elohim  before  me.  Thou 
shalt  not  make  thee  any  graven  image,  nor  any  likeness 
of  any  thing  that  is  in  heaven  above,  or  that  is  in  the 
earth  beneath,  or  that  is  in  the  waters  under  the  earth ; 
thou  shalt  not  bow  down  thyself  unto  them,  nor  serve 
them:  For  I,  Jehovah  thy  Elohe,  am  a  jealous  El,"  &c. 
Shortly  after  this,  -Moses,  Aaron,  Nadab  and  Abihu, 
and  seventy  of  the  elders  of  Israel  were  called  up  into 
the  mount,  and  "  they  saw  the  Elohe  of  Israel."  Then 
Aaron  and  the  others  returned  to  the  people,  except 
Moses,  who  was  called  up  into  the  cloud  on  the  mount, 
and  remained  there  forty  days  and  forty  nights.  In  the 
meantime,  "  the  sight  of  the  glory  of  Jehovah  was  like 
devouring  fire  on  the  top  of  the  mount,  in  the  eyes  of 
the  children  of  Israel."  The  appalling  terrors  of  this 
sight,  from  which  they  were,  at  the  announcement  of  the 
Law,  so  anxious  to  be  relieved,  being  thus  prolonged 
from  week  to  week,  and  despairing  of  the  return  of  their 
chosen  interlocutor  between  Jehovah  and  them,  the 
minds  of  the  people  reverted  to  the  image  representative 
of  Baal,  and  with  other  images  and  idolized  objects 
familiarly  called  Elohim,  with  which  their  sojourn  in 
Egypt  had  made  them  acquainted :  and  they  said  to 
Aaron,  "  Up,  make  us  Elohim  which  shall  go  before 
us ;  for  as  for  this  Moses,  the  man  that  brought  us  up 


IN   MOSES   AND   THE   PROPHETS.  219 

out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  we  wot  not  what  is  become 
of  him."  Aaron  accordingly  made  a  molten  calf,  "and 
they  said,  This  is  thy  Elohe,  O  Israel,  which  brought  thee 
up  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt:"  plainly  meaning,  This 
image  represents,  is  a  visible  representative  of  thy  Elohe, 
and  stands  between  him  and  us,  as  Moses,  the  man  that 
brought  us  out  of  Egypt,  stood  between  Jehovah  and 
us  at  the  giving  of  the  Law.  They  wanted  and  deemed 
that  they  had  in  this  molten  image  a  visible  representa- 
tive of  the  Elohe  of  Israel.  But  no  one  can  suppose 
that  Aaron,  after  having  witnessed  the  wonders  in 
Egypt,  and  assisted  Moses  as  an  instrument  of  them, 
and,  with  the  elders,  "seen  the  Elohe  of  Israel"  in  the 
mount,  could  mistake  and  ascribe  to  the  brute  image 
the  power  and  prerogatives  of  that  Being ;  neither  did 
the  people  imagine  any  thing  to  that  effect.  The  crime 
of  which  they  were  guilty,  and  for  which  they  were 
punished,  was  that  of  breaking  a  positive  command; 
doing  what  was  expressly  forbidden ;  making  a  graven 
image ;  worshipping  it  as  a  representative  emblem  of 
Jehovah,  and  medium  of  their  homage  of  him ;  placing 
it  before  him,  between  them  and  him,  in  imitation  of  the 
Egyptians,  who  made  and  worshipped  similar  images  as 
the  immediate,  local,  visible,  familiar  objects  or  media 
through  which  they  offered  their  sacrifices  and  pra}rers 
to  Baal.  There  is  no  intimation  that  they  intended  on 
this  occasion  to  ascribe  their  deliverance  from  Egypt 
to  Baal.  On  the  contrary,  they  had  witnessed  the  most 
amazing  demonstrations  in  the  plagues  and  at  the  Bed 
Sea,  that  their  deliverance  was  effected  by  the  high 
hand  and  outstretched  arm  of  Jehovah,  in  opposition  to 
that  adversary.  They  were  required  by  sacrifices  and 
prayers  to  worship  the  Elohe  of  Israel  directly  in  spirit 
and  in  truth,  conformably  to  the  letter  of  their  ritual, 


220  THE   MESSIAH 

the  divine  doctrine  of  mediation,  and  his  relations  as  the 
only  Mediator  between  the  invisible  God  and  men.  The 
introduction  of  a  representative  image  or  deified  object 
between  him  and  them,  and  offering  burnt  offerings  in 
that  relation,  as  Aaron  did,  was  not  only  wholly  incon- 
sistent with  the  nature,  theory,  and  ritual  of  their  reli- 
gion, and  a  flagrant  act  of  disobedience ;  but  was 
calculated  to  lead  them,  as  it  afterwards  did,  to  renounce 
Jehovah,  and  turn  away  to  the  exclusive  worship  of 
Baal  through  the  medium  of  idols.  Against  this  tend- 
ency they  were  often  cautioned  and  warned ;  and  were 
commanded  to  destroy  the  images  and  altars  of  Baal 
wherever  they  encountered  them.  They  were  forbidden 
to  inquire  after  the  idol  gods,  or  how  the  idolatrous 
nations  served  them,  and  were  commanded  to  put  to 
death  members  of  their  families,  false  prophets  and  others 
who  should  endeavor  to  entice  them  to  idolatry,  and 
utterly  to  destroy  those  who  were  "enticed,  with  their 
families  and-all  their  effects.     Deut.  xii.,  xiii.,  &c. 

The  first  public  defection  of  any  of  the  Israelites,  or 
any  considerable  number  of  them,  took  place  nearby 
forty  years  after  the  Exodus,  when,  in  their  forty-second 
journey,  they  entered  the  plain  of  Moab,  and  were 
seduced  by  the  Moabites  to  attend  "the  sacrifices  of 
their  gods  ;  and  the  people  did  eat,  and  bowed  down  to 
their  gods,  and  Israel  joined  himself  unto  Baal-peor" — • 
that  is,  Baal,  as  worshipped  on  the  eminence  called 
Peor,  where  the  vilest  abominations  were  practised. 
Twenty-four  thousand  of  the  people  were  slain  in  rebuke 
of  this  apostasy.  Under  the  Judges,  after  the  death  of 
Joshua,  the  children  of  Israel  "forsook  Jehovah,  and 
served  Baal  and  Ashtaroth,"  Judges  ii.  3,  6  ;  and  again 
in  the  reign  of  Ahab,  who,  having  married  Jezebel,  a 
heathen  woman  and  zealous  devotee  of  that  idolatry, 


IN   MOSES  AND   THE   PROPHETS.  221 

built  a  house  or  temple  of  Baal  in  Samaria,  erected  an 
altar  for  him,  and  served  and  worshipped  him. 

In  the  meantime,  however,  there  continued  generally 
among  the  Israelites  a  restless  propensity  for  such  visi- 
ble and  familiar  images  as  were  common  in  Egypt  and 
other  nations,  and  which,  notwithstanding  the  prohibi- 
tion in  the  Decalogue,  and  the  wrath  incurred  for  the 
violation  under  Aaron,  and  in  the  plain  of  Moab,  they 
seem  to  have  deemed  consistent  with  their  religion, 
provided  the  worship  offered  through  them  was  directed 
to  Jehovah  and  not  to  Baal.  Thus,  in  the  narrative  of 
Micah,  Judges  xvii.,  it  appears  that  silver  which  had 
been  dedicated  to  Jehovah  was  wrought  into  a  graven 
image,  not  for  any  purpose  of  secret  or  heathenish 
idolatry,  but  as  an  instrument  to  be  employed  in  his 
daily  domestic  worship  of  Jehovah.  He  accordingly 
engaged  a  Levite  to  officiate  as  priest,  who,  on  the  arrival 
of  a  company  of  Danites  in  search  of  a  place  to  dwell 
in,  made  no  secret  of  his  occupation.  Micah,  on  engaging 
him,  said,  "  Now  know  I  that  Jehovah  will  do  me  good, 
seeing  I  have  a  Levite  to  my  priest;"  which  plainly 
implies  that  .he  professed  to  worship  Jehovah,  and  to 
expect  benefits  only  from  him.  An  illustration  to  the 
like  effect  is  furnished  in  the  history  of  Gideon,  a  true 
worshipper  of  Jehovah,  to  whom  the  Messenger  Jeho- 
vah appeared,  and  who,  in  obedience  to  his  command, 
destroyed  the  altar  of  Baal ;  and  yet,  after  having  been 
the  instrument,  Avith  three  hundred  men,  of  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  kings  of  Midian,  and  of  an  army  of  one 
hundred  and  twenty  thousand,  took  of  the  spoils  of 
gold,  and  made  an  ephod  and  put  it  in  his  city ;  an 
imitation  no  doubt  of  that  prescribed  to  Moses,  but 
intended,  at  a  distance  from  the  tabernacle,  as  an  in- 
strument of  worshipping  and  consulting  Jehovah  ;  but 


222  THE    MESSIAH 

which,  as  naturally  as  if  it  had  been  a  graven  image, 
became  a  snare  to  him  and  to  the  people. 

Another  illustration  occurs  in  the  history  of  Jero- 
boam, late  a  refugee  and  perhaps  idolater  in  Egypt, 
who,  fearing  that  if  the  people  of  the  ten  tribes,  and  the 
Levites  who  dwelt  among  them,  should  continue  to  go 
up  to  Jerusalem  to  worship  Jehovah  in  the  temple, 
their  hearts  would  be  turned  from  him  to  Rehoboam 
as  their  rightful  king,  "  made  two  calves  of  gold,  and 
said  unto  the  people,  It  is  too  much  for  you  to  go  up  to 
Jerusalem ;  behold  thy  Elohe,  O  Israel,  which  brought 
thee  up  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt.  And  he  set  the  one 
in  Bethel,  and  the  other  put  he  in  Dan.  And  this  thing- 
became  a  sin."  Doubtless  the  people  regarded  these 
graven  images  in  the  same  light  as  that  made  under  the 
direction  of  Aaron ;  for,  with  the  exception  of  the 
priests  and  Levites,  they  acquiesced  in  the  change, 
though  a  week  before  they  were  ready,  as  subjects  of 
the  legitimate  successor  of  Solomon,  to  continue  in  the 
established  worship  of  Jehovah  in  the  temple.  The 
priests  and  Levites  were  expelled  as  too  closely  con- 
nected with  the  service  in  Jerusalem  ;  new  priests  were 
appointed,  and  the  same  rites  were  observed  before  the 
images  as  before  Jehovah  in  the  temple.  And  when 
Jehu,  in  his  zeal  for  Jehovah,  slew  all  the  partisans  of 
Baal,  he  still  adhered  to  the  golden  calves  in  Dan  and 
Bethel,  as  not  in  his  view  inconsistent  with  the  true 
worship.     2  Kings  x. 

In  the  same  class  of  acts,  in  point  of  turpitude,  and 
in  respect  to  the  apparent  intention  of  the  actors  and 
the  tendency  of  their  acts,  may  be  included  that  of 
Nadab  and  Abihu,  in  "offering  strange  fire  before  Jeho- 
vah, which  he  commanded  them  not.  And  there  went 
out  fire  from  Jehovah   and  devoured  them,  and  they 


IN   MOSES  AND   THE   PROPHETS.  223 

died  before  Jehovah ;"  and  that  of  Korah  and  his 
company,  who  usurped  the  priests'  office  and  burned 
incense,  and  were  destroyed  with  their  families  and 
fourteen  thousand  of  their  adherents. 

These  illustrations  show  that  the  worship  rendered  to 
images  did  not  terminate  in  them  as  its  object,  but 
referred  to  an  unseen  Intelligence  beyond  them,  who 
was  supposed  to  be  cognizant  of  their  circumstances 
and  their  acts,  and  to  be  able  to  protect  them  and  grant 
their  requests.  It  proceeded  on  the  assumption  that  the 
visible  emblem,  the  graven  image,  or  whatever  was 
selected  by  individuals  or  canonized  by  the  priests,  and 
worshipped  as  an  idol — the  proper  signification  of  which 
is,  a  figure,  likeness,  or  representation — was  a  medium 
of  intercourse  with  the  Being  worshipped. 

This  was  the  case,  not  merely  with  the  Israelites  in 
their  use  of  images  in  the  real  or  pretended  worship 
of  Jehovah,  but  equally  of  the  devoted  worshippers  of 
Baal.  A  few  references  out  of  many  which  might  be 
made,  will  show  that  their  prayers  and  offerings  were 
directed  to  the  unseen  object  of  their  homage.  Thus, 
in  the  formal  controversy  between  Elijah,  as  prophet 
of  Jehovah,  and  the  four  hundred  and  fifty  prophets  of 
Baal,  to  demonstrate  by  fire,  to  Ahab  and  the  people, 
which  was  supreme,  whether  Jehovah  or  the  Baal  was 
the  Elohim  to  be  worshipped  and  obeyed ;  Elijah  pro- 
posed that  each  party  should  offer  a  sacrifice  of  animals, 
and  let  it  be  seen  which  would  be  miraculously  con- 
sumed, and  said :  "  Call  ye  on  the  name  of  your  Elohe," 
— rendered  here  and  elsewhere  erroneously  gods  in  the 
plural,  as  if  there  were  more  than  one  Baal, — "  and  I 
will  call  on  the  name  of  Jehovah;  and  the  Elohim  that 
answereth  by  fire,  let  him  be  the  Elohim.  And  all  the 
people   answered  and  said,   It  is  well  spoken.     And 


224  THE   MESSIAH 

Elijah  said  unto  the  prophets  of  the  Baal,  Choose  you 
one  bullock  for  yourselves,  and  dress  it  first,  for  ye  arc 
many,  and  call  on  your  Elohe ;  but  put  no  fire  under. 
And' they  took  the  bullock  which  was  given  them,  and 
they  dressed  it,  and  called  on  the  name  of  the  Baal  from 
morning  even  until  noon,  saying,  O  the  Baal,  hear  us! 
But  there  was  no  voice,  nor  any  that  answered.  And 
they  leaped  upon  the  altar  that  was  made.  And  it  came 
to  pass  at  noon,  that  Elijah  mocked  them,  and  said,  Cry 
aloud,  for  he  is  an  Elohim  ;  either  he  is  talking,  or  he 
is  pursuing,  or  he  is  in  ,a  journey,  or  peradventure  he 
sleepeth,  and  must  be  awaked.  And  they  cried  aloud, 
and  cut  themselves,  after  their  manner,  with  knives  and 
lancets,  till  the  blood  gushed  out  upon  them.  And  they 
prophesied  until  the  time  of  the  offering  of  the  evening 
sacrifice,  and  there  was  neither  voice,  nor  any  to  answer, 
nor  any  that  regarded."     1  Kings  xviii. 

In  this  case  there  does  not  appear  to  have  been  any 
intervening  image  or  idol.  The  priests  called  on  the 
name  of  the  absent,  invisible  Baal,  but  he  answered  not. 
He  could  not  assist  them  by  working  a  real  miracle, 
and  under  the  circumstances  they  could  not  counterfeit 
one ;  and  with  the  approbation  of  the  people,  who  saw 
that  they  were  impostors,  they  were  all  slain. 

That  the  real  object  of  their  worship  was  distinct 
from  their  images,  is  implied  in  their  selecting  high 
places  for  their  religious  rites,  and  erecting  lofty  towers 
for  that  purpose,  where  the  sun  could  be  earliest  seen  at 
rising,  and  where  the  stars  or  host  of  heaven  could  be 
most  advantageously  observed ;  and  in  burning  their 
children  as  sacrifices,  making  them  pass  through  the 
fire  to  Baal  or  Moloch.  Thus,  in  the  reign  of  Ahaz, 
2  Kings  xvii.,  "They  made  them  molten  images,  even 
two  calves,  and  made  a  grove,  and  worshipped  all  the 


IN  MOSES  AND  THE   PROPHETS.  225 

host  of  heaven,  and  served  Baal.  And  they  caused 
their  sons  and  their  daughters  to  pass  through  the 
fire."  Manasseh  made  his  son  pass  through  the  fire  ; 
and  in  Josiah's  reformation  he  put  down  the  idolatrous 
priests  "that  burned  incense  unto  Baal,  to  the  sun 
[literally,  to  Baal,  the  sun]  and  to  the  moon,  and  to  the 
planets,  and  to  all  the  host  of  heaven."  2  Kings  xxiii. 
Jeremiah  says :  "They  have  built  also  the  high  placea 
of  Baal,  to  burn  their  sons  with  fire  for  burnt  offerings 
unto  Baal."  Chap.  xix.  5.  Again :  "And  they  built 
the  high  places  of  Baal,  to  cause  their  sons  and  their 
daughters  to  pass  through  the  fire  unto  Moloch."  Jer. 
xxxii.  85.  And  of  Josiah  it  is  said,  that  he  defiled 
Tophet — "  that  no  man  might  make  his  son  or  his 
daughter  to  pass  through  the  fire  to  Moloch."  2  Kings 
xxiii.  10.  Their  idea  evidently  was,  that  by  sacrificing 
in  this  way  the  most  valued  offering  they  could  make, 
that  of  their  children,  they  would  pass  in  and  through 
that  element  to  Baal,  whose  residence  was  conceived  to 
be  in  the  solar  orb. 

The  term  Moloch — variously  written  Melech,  Moloch, 
Malcom,  Milcom — as  a  designation,  refers  to  the  same 
being  as  Baal ;  the  literal  import  of  the  latter  .being  the 
same  as  that  of  the  Lord,  as  the  sun  is  lord  of  the  da}' ; 
and  that  of  the  former,  the  same  as  the  king,  as  the  sun 
is  king  of  the  day.  The  molten  images,  representative 
of  Moloch,  in  the  heated  chest  or  arms  of  which,  chil- 
dren offered  in  sacrifice  were  burnt,  are  somewhat 
variously  described,  but  generally  as  having  the  head 
of  a  calf  and  the  body  of  a  man,  with  an  opening  in  the 
chest,  into  which,  when  heated  from  below,  the  victims 
were  cast  alive ;  and  to  drown  their  cries,  as  in  the 
burning  of  widows  in  India,  under  the  same  general 
notion,  drums  were  beaten. 
10* 


226  THE   MESSIAH 

It  appears  evident  from  the  passages  in  which  they 
occur  in  the  Scriptures,  that  the  terms  Bel,  Baal,  and 
Baalim,  are  personal  designations  of  the  intelligence 
worshipped  by  the  Chaldeans,  and  other  idolaters,  as 
their  god,  and  by  the  Israelites  in  opposition  to  Jeho- 
vah. Thus,  Jer.  1.  2  :  "Declare  ye  among  the  nations, 
;  .  .  .  Babylon  is  taken,  Bel  is  confounded,  Mero- 
dach  is  broken  in  pieces  ;"  and  li.  44  :  "  I  will  punish 
Bel  in  Babylon.  .  .  .  The  nations  shall  not  flow  to- 
gether any  more  to  him."  That  is,  by  the  destruction 
of  Babylon,  Bel,  the  god  of  their  idolatry,  is  con- 
founded, punishment  is  inflicted  on  him ;  Merodach, 
the  chief  idol  representative  of  Bel,  is  broken  in  pieces. 

In  most  of  the  instances  in  which  the  same  designa- 
tion is  rendered  Baal,  it  has  the  article,  making  the 
personal  reference  emphatic. 

"  Throw  down  the  altar  of  the  Baal  that  thy  father 
hath,  and  cut  down  the  grove  [statue  of  wood,  or  pil- 
lar carved  statue  or  image-like]  that  is  by  it :  and  build 
an  altar  unto  Jehovah  thy  Elohe.  .  .  .  And  when  the 
men  of  the  city  arose  in  the  morning,  behold,  the  altar 
of  the  Baal  was  cast  down,  &c.  ...  If  he  be  an  Elohim, 
let  him  plead  for  kimsetf.  .  .  .  Let  the  Baal  plead  against 
Gideon,  because  he  hath  thrown  down  his  altar."  Judges 
vi.  25,  26,  &c. 

Ahab  "  went  and  served  the  Baal,  and  worshipped 
him.  And  he  reared  up  an  altar  for  Baal  in  the  house 
of  the  Baal  which  he  had  built  in  Samaria."  1  Kings 
xiv.  31,  32. 

"And  Elijah  said,  If  Jehovah  be  the  Elohim,  follow 
him :  but  if  the  Baal,  then  follow  him."  1  Kings  xviii.  21. 

So  in  the  narrative  of  the  destruction  of  the  house, 
and  the  prophets,  priests,  and  worshippers  of  the  Baal, 
by  Jehu,  2  Kings  x.  18-28,  the  article  occurs  with  the 


IN   MOSES   AND  THE   PROPHETS.  227 

name  in  the  successive  verses.  And  chap.  xi.  18:  "All 
the  people  of  the  land  went  into  the  house  of  the  Baal 
and  brake  it  down ;  his  altars  and  his  images  brake 
they  in  pieces." 

It  is  manifest  from  these  and  other  like  passages, 
that  while  the  statues  and  images  of  Baal  were  many 
and  various,  in  all  countries  and  places,  the  Baal,  the 
real  object  of  worship,  represented  by  them,  was  one. 
To  him,  under  another  of  his  designations,  that  of 
Moloch,  human  victims  offered  in  sacrifice  were  sup- 
posed to  pass  through  the  element  of  fire. 

Nor  does  this  conclusion  appear  to  be  invalidated  by 
the  occurrence  of  the  designation  in  a  plural  form,  ren- 
dered Baalim.  The  usage  in  this  respect  seems  analo- 
gous to  that  of  the  word  Elohim.  In  both  cases  the 
article  is  often  prefixed;  and  the  reference  is  to  one 
agent  only.  Thus,  Judges  viii.  83  :  "  The  children  of 
Israel  turned  again  .  .  .  after  the  Baalim,  and  made 
Baal-berith  their  Elohim."  Again,  chap.  x.  10-16,  the 
children  of  Israel  said :  "  We  have  forsaken  our  Elohe, 
and  also  served  the  Baalim.  And  Jehovah  said,  .  .  . 
Ye  have  forsaken  me,  and  served  other  Elohim.  .  .  .  Go 
and  cry  unto  the  Elohim  which  ye  have  chosen.  .  .  . 
And  they  put  away  the  strange  Elohe  from  among 
them,  and  served  Jehovah." 

The  terms,  Baal-berith,  signify  the  god  of  the  covenant, 
i.  e.,  of  the  covenant  between  Baal  and  his  worshippers ; 
as  Melach  Berith,  Mai.  iii.  2,  signifies  the  Messenger  of  the 
Covenant  of  grace. 

It  is  thus  presumed  to  be  evident  beyond  a  doubt, 
that  the  whole  system  was  based  upon  a  theory  and  a 
sense  of  the  necessity  of  mediation ;  and  whether  the 
earlier  or  later  idolaters,  the  instructed  or  the  ignorant, 
referred  in  their  worship  to  a  being  beyond  or  superior 


228  THE   MESSIAH 

to  Baal,  regarding  him  as  created  by  that  superior  being, 
and  yet  himself  as  creator  of  the  world,  or  whether  their 
homage  terminated  in  him,  does  not  affect  the  question 
under  consideration. 

Mosheim,  in  his  Commentaries  on  the  three  first 
centuries  of  the  Christian  era,  observes,  with  respect 
to  the  costly  and  sumptuous  buildings  of  the  pagans, 
called  temples,  fanes,  &c,  and  dedicated  to  the  worship  of 
their  gods,  that  internally  "they  were  ornamented  with 
images  of  the  gods,  and  furnished  with  altars,"  &c. 
"  The  statues  were  supposed  to  be  animated  by  the 
deities  whom  they  represented  ;  for  though  the  worship- 
pers of  gods  like  those  above  described  must,  in  a 
great  measure,  have  turned  their  backs  upon  every  dic- 
tate of  reason,  they  were  yet  by  no  means  willing  to 
appear  so  wholly  destitute  of  common  sense  as  to  pay 
their  adoration  to  a  mere  idol  of  meted,  icood,  or  stone ; 
but  always  maintained  that  the  statues,  when  properly 
consecrated,  were  filled  with  the  presence  of  those 
divinities  whose  forms  they  bore."     Vol.  i.  16. 


EST  MOSES  AND   THE   PEOPHETS.  229 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

Idolatry  an  imposing  and  delusive  Counterfeit  of  the  Revealed  System, 
in  respect  to  the  leading  features  of  its  Ritual,  and  the  prerogatives 
ascribed  to  the  Ai-ch-deceiver — Reference  to  the  Symbols  of  the 
Apocalypse. 

This  antagonist  system  was,  in  respect  to  the  attri- 
butes and  prerogatives  impiously  arrogated  by  the  great 
Adversary,  and  in  respect  to  the  leading  features  of  its 
ritual,  a  bold,  seductive,  and  imposing  counterfeit  of 
the  revealed  system  taught  and  practised  by  Noah  and 
his  descendants  in  the  line  of  Shem. 

To  substitute  a  false  appearance,  a  deceitful  imitation, 
a  resembling  counterfeit,  a  cheat,  a  lie,  was  as  obviously 
expedient,  and  even  necessary,  in  such  a  case,  as  it  is  in 
keeping  with  the  craft  and  subtlety  of  Satan  to  deceive 
and  beguile.  He  had  to  entice,  allure,  and  impose  on 
those  who  knew  what  the  true  system  was,  and  by  what 
miracles  and  wonders  it  had  been  sanctioned ;  who 
witnessed  its  effects  in  the  lives  of  those  who  practised 
it,  were  familiar  with  its  institutions  and  public  ob- 
servances ;  and  whose  understandings  must  have  been 
more  or  less  influenced  by  its  inherent  and  its  hereditary 
claims,  and  by  its  voice  of  encouragement  and  hope  to 
the  righteous,  and  of  alarm  and  terror  to  the  wicked. 
Under  such  circumstances,  to  resist  and  counteract  the 
system  divinely  prescribed  and  established,  it  was  ne- 
cessary to  impose  on  the  understandings  of  men,  as  well 
as  to  enlist  their  feelings,  give  scope  to  their  propensi- 
ties, and  gratify  their  passions.  To  have  called  on  them 
to  worship  him  directly  in  his  true  character,  without 


230  THE   MESSIAH 

disguise,  or  to  worship  him  as  a  being  of  inferior  claims 
to  those  of  Jehovah,  or  by  rites  and  ceremonials  less 
significant  and  imposing,  would  not  have  been  likely 
to  secure  their  homage  and  allegiance.  His  own  undis- 
guised character  would  have  been  revolting;  an  inferior 
could  not  protect  them  against  the  superior  Being ;  to 
dispense  with  public  and  visible  rites  and  ceremonies 
would  have  been  to  disappoint  and  resist  their  propensi- 
ties and  passions ;  and  no  others  but  such  as  were 
already  in  use  could  be  made  to  maintain  a  competition 
with  them. 

Accordingly,  he  arrogated  the  name,  power,  preroga- 
tives, works,  relations  and  government  of  Jehovah.  He 
claimed  to  be  god  of  this  world :  its  creator,  providen- 
tial ruler,  dispenser  of  benefits,  protector  of  his  followers, 
and  rightful  object  of  their  homage  and  obedience,  in 
opposition  to  Jehovah.  He  took  the  then  current  name 
in  Babylon  of  the  sun,  Bel — or,  as  pointed  and  commonly 
rendered,  Baal — Lord  of  Heaven,  Supreme  Euler,  like 
the  sun  in  the  visible  heaven ;  afterwards,  with  the  same 
import,  the  Egyptian  name  of  the  same  object,  On,  (often 
rendered  Aven.)  Also,  Moloch,  (Melek,)  King;  Baal- 
Zebub,  Lord  of  Hosts — Zebub  being  a  corruption  of 
Zebaoth,  hosts,  as  in  the  formula,  Jehovah  Zebaoth, 
Lord  of  Hosts  ;  and  among  the  Phoenicians,  Baal  Samen, 
Lord  of  Heaven. 

He  arrogated  the  sun  as  his  tabernacle  or  shekina,  and 
the  solar  fire  and  light  as  his  element :  imitating,  we  may 
well  believe,  in  respect  to  the  first  of  these  particulars, 
what  had  been  exhibited  in  Eden,  and  from  time  to 
time  prior  to  the  age  of  Abraham,  as  it  was  afterwards, 
and  especially  to  Moses  in  Midian,  in  the  pillar  of  cloud, 
at  the  Red  Sea,  on  Mount  Sinai,  and  in  the  tabernacle. 
And  in  imitation  of  the  tabernacle  erected  by  Moses  in 


IN   MOSES  AND  THE   PROPHETS.  231 

the  wilderness,  the  partisans  of  Baal  erected  the  taber- 
nacle of  Moloch,  i.  e.,  Baal  under  that  name.  Amos  v. ; 
Acts  vii. 

Prideaux,  Part  L,  Book  3,  treating  of  the  origin  of 
idolatry,  and  yet  describing  it  at  an  advanced  stage, 
when,  in  addition  to  the  sun,  the  planets  and  stars  had 
been  brought  into  its  service,  observes :  "  That  they 
took  upon  themselves  to  address  the  being  whom  they 
worshipped,"  and  whom  he  supposes  they  regarded  as 
the  true  God,  "by  mediators  of  their  own  choosing. 
And  their  notion  of  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars  being,  that 
they  were  the  tabernacles  or  habitations  of  intelligences 
which  animated  those  orbs,  in  the  same  manner  as  the 
soul  of  man  animates  his  body,  and  were  che  causes  of 
all  their  motions ;  and  that  those  intelligences  were  of 
a  middle  nature  between  God  and  them  ;  they  thought 
these  the  properest  beings  to  become  the  mediators 
between  God  and  them  ;  and,  therefore,  the  planets 
being  the  nearest  to  them  of  all  these  heavenly  bodies, 
and  generally  looked  on  to  have  the  greatest  in- 
fluence on  this  world,  they  made  choice  of  them  in 
the  first  place  for  their  God' s-medid tors,  who  were 
to  mediate  for  them  with  the  Supreme  God,  and 
procure  from  him  the  mercies  and  favors  which  they 
prayed  for  ;  and  accordingly  they  directed  divine  wor- 
ship unto  them  as  such.  And  here  began  all  the  idolatry 
that  hath  been  practised  in  the  world.  They  first 
worshipped  them  per  sacella,  that  is;  by  their  tabernacles, 
and  afterwards  by  images  also.  By  these  sacella  or 
tabernacles  they  meant  the  orbs  themselves,  which  they 
looked  on  only  as  the  sacella  or  sacred  tabernacles  in 
which  the  intelligences  had  their  habitations.  And 
therefore,  when  they  paid  their  devotions  to  any  one  of 
them,  they  directed  their  worship  towards  the   planet 


232  THE   MESSIAH 

in  which  they  supposed  he  dwelt.  But  these  orbs, -by 
their  rising  and  setting,  being  as  much  under  the  ho- 
rizon as  above,  they  were  at  a  loss  how  to  address  to 
them  in  their  absence.  To  remedy  this,  they  had  re- 
course to  the  invention  of  images,  in  which,  after  their 
consecration,  they  thought  these  intelligences,  or  inferior 
deities,  to  be  as  much  present  by  their  influence  as  in 
the  planets  themselves,  and  that  all  addresses  to  them 
were  made  as  effectually  before  the  one  as  before  the 
other.  And  this  was  the  beginning  of  image  worship 
among  them.  To  these  images  were  given  the  names  of 
the  planets  they  represented.  .  .  .  After  this,  a  notion 
obtaining  that  good  men  departed  had  a  power  with 
God  also  to  mediate  and  intercede  for  them,  they  deified 
many  of  those  whom  they  thought  to  be  such;  and 
hence  the  number  of  their  gods  increased,  in  the  idola- 
trous times  of  the  world.  This  religion  first  began 
among  the  Chaldeans,  which  their  knowledge  of  astrono- 
my helped  them  to.  And  from  this  it  Avas  that  Abra- 
ham separated  himself  when  he  came  out  of  Chaldea. 
From  the  Chaldeans  it  spread  itself  over  all  the  East, 
where  the  professors  of  it  had  the  name  of  Sabians. 
From  thence  it  passed  into  Egypt,  and  from  thence  to 
the  Grecians,  who  propagated  it  to  all  the  western 
nations  of  the  world  ;  and  therefore  those  who  mislike 
the  notion  advanced  by  Maimonides,  that  many  of  the 
Jewish  laws  were  made  in  opposition  to  the  idolatrous 
rites  of  the  Sabians,  are  much  mistaken  when  they 
-object  against  it  that  the  Sabians  were  an  inconsiderable 
sect,  and  therefore  not  likely  to  be  so  far  regarded  in 
that  matter.  .  .  .  Anciently,  they  were  all  the  nations 
of  the  world  that  worshipped  God  by  images.  And 
that  Maimonides  understood  the  name  in  this  latitude 
is  plain  from  hence,  that  he  tells  us  the  Sabians  whom 


nsr  moses  and  the  prophets.  233 

lie  spoke  of  were  a  sect  whose  heresy  had  overspread 
almost  all  mankind.  .  .  .  That  which  hath  given  them 
the  greatest  credit  among  the  people  of  the  East  is,  that 
the  best  of  their  astronomers  have  been  of  this  sect,  as 
Thebat  Ebn  Korrah,  Albatani,  and  others ;  for  the 
stars  being  the  gods  they  worshipped,  they  made  them 
the  chief  subject  of  their  studies.  These  Sabians,  in 
the  consecrating  of  their  images,  used  many  incantations 
to  draw  down  into  them,  from  the  stars,  those  intelli- 
gences for  whom  they  erected  them,  whose  power  and 
influence  they  held  did  afterwards  dwell  in  them." 

"  Directly  opposite  to  these  were  the  Magians,  another 
sect,  who  had  their  original  in  the  same  Eastern  countries. 
For  they,  abominating  all  images,  worshipped  God  only 
by  fire."  These,  instead  of  branching  off  from  the 
Sabians,  doubtless  preceded  them.  "  Their  chief  doc- 
trine was,  that  there  were  two  principles :  one  which 
was  the  cause  of  all  good,  and  the  other  the  cause  of 
all  evil :  that  is  to  say,  God  and  the  Devil.  That  the 
former  is  represented  by  light  and  the  other  by  darkness, 
as  their  truest  symbols,  and  that  of  the  composition  of 
these  two  all  things  in  the  world  are  made.  .  .  .  And 
concerning  these  two  gods  there  was  this  difference  of 
opinion  among  them — that  whereas  some  held  both  of 
them  to  have  been  from  eternity,  there  were  others  that 
contended  that  the  good  God  only  was  eternal,  and  that 
the  other  was  created.  But  they  both  agreed  in  this, 
that  there  will  be  a  continual  opposition  between  these 
two  till  the  end  of  the  world.  That  then  the  good  God 
shall  overcome  the  evil  god,  and  that  from  thenceforward 
each  of  them  shall  have  his  world  to  himself:  that  is, 
the  good  God  his  world,  with  all  good  men  with  him, 
and  the  evil  god  his  world,  with  all  evil  men  with  him. 
That  darkness  is  the  truest  symbol  of  the  evil  god,  and 


234  THE   MESSIAH 

light  the  truest  symbol  of  the  good  God:  and  therefore 
they  always  worshipped  him  before  fire,  as  being  the 
cause  of  light,  and  especially  before  the  sun,  as  being, 
in  their  opinion,  the  perfectest  fire,  and  causing  the 
perfectest  light.  And  for  this  reason,  in  all  their  tem- 
ples, they  had  fire  continually  burning  on  altars  erected 
in  them  for  that  purpose.  And  before  these  sacred  fires 
they  offered  up  all  their  public  devotions,  as  likewise 
they  did  all  their  private  devotions  before  their  private 
fires  in  their  own  houses.  Thus  did  they  pay  the 
highest  honor  to  light,  as  being  in  their  opinion 
the  truest  representative  of  the  good  God,  but  always 
hated  darkness,  as  being  what  they  thought  the  truest 
representative  of  the  evil  god,  whom  they  ever  had  in 
the  utmost  detestation,  as  we  now  have  the  Devil." 

The  author's  account  of  the  origin  and  nature  of 
idolatry  is  in  most  particulars  undoubtedly  correct.  The 
exceptions,  however,  are  of  great  significance.  He 
seems  to  suppose  that  the  system  was  contrived  and 
adopted  by  men,  without  the  instigation  of  Satan,  and 
that  their  object  was  the  worship  of  the  true  God,  in 
opposition  to  that  evil  being.  But  the  intelligence 
whom  they  called  the  good  God  was  Satan  himself,  sup- 
posed to  be  in  the  sun  as  his  tabernacle,  and  in  fire  and 
light  as  his  element.  And  as  to  what  they  termed  the 
evil  god,  it  was  obviously  necessary  to  the  success  of 
his  system,  as  a  counterfeit  of  the  true,  that  it  should 
pretend  to  have  a  devil  and  a  perpetual  antagonism.  It 
was  probably  as  well  known  then,  and  perhaps  more 
generally  believed  than  it  is  now,  that  there  was  such 
an  evil  being ;  and  that  he  was  and  would  continue  to 
be  utterly  opposed  to  the  true  God.  And  a  false  or 
counterfeit  system,  in  which  the  false  god  was  to  arro- 
gate the  name  and  pass  himself  off  for  the  true  God, 


IN   MOSES   AND   THE    PROPHETS.  235 

must  provide  also  an  antagonist,  a  competitor,  a  devil ; 
and  to  carry  out  the  cheat,  assign  to  him  darkness  as 
his  tabernacle,  in  opposition  to  light  as  his  own. 

It  were  superfluous  to  dwell  on  the  imposing  and 
plausible  aspect  of  the  scheme  in  the  particulars  above 
referred  to,  considered  as  addressed  to  the  depraved 
hearts,  corrupt  imaginations,  and  evil  passions  of  men; 
opposed  to  the  purity,  the  requirements,  and  the  re- 
straints of  the  true  religion,  and  willingly  the  followers 
and  servants  of  the  Evil  One.  While  it  imposed  no 
restraint  upon  their  corruptions,  every  point  in  the 
contrast  must  have  had  its  effect.  It  excluded  mystery, 
and  appealed  directly  to  their  senses  ;  presenting  in  the 
sun  an  object  of  homage,  not  only  familiar  to  their  view 
without  causing  fear,  but  apparently  the  beneficent  and 
constant  source  of  their  daily  comforts  and  greatest 
blessings ;  and  by  means  of  fire  and  light,  artificially 
produced,  enabling  every  individual  to  avail  himself  of 
the  immediate  presence  and  the  beneficial  influence  and 
effects  of  that  object,  brought  thus  within  their  control, 
in  their  dwellings  and  on  their  hearths. 

The  ritual  of  worship  prescribed  the  erection  of  altars, 
a  priesthood,  various  offerings  besides  the  sacrifice  of 
animals,  prayers,  the  burning  of  incense,  feasts,  celebra- 
tions, and  other  counterfeits  of  the  revealed  system.  As 
a  counterpart  to  the  sacred  oracle  and  the  gift  of  prophecy, 
the  worshippers  of  Baal  had  auguries,  divinations,  and 
pretended  oracles  in  every  country.  Their  prophets 
prophesied  in  the  name  of  Baal.  Jer.  ii.  8;  xxiii.  13. 
"Ahaziah  being  sick,  sent  messengers,  and  said  unto 
them,  Go  and  inquire  of  Baal-Zebub,  the  god  of  Ekron, 
whether  I  shall  recover  of  this  disease."  2  Kings  i. 
The  responses  of  their  oracles,  which  continued  till 
after  the  destruction  of  the  first  temple  and  the  cessation 


236  THE   MESSIAH 

of  true  prophets,  and  more  or  less  down  to  the  Advent, 
when  they  appear  to  have  ceased,  were  studiously  con- 
trived so  as  to  admit  equally  well  of  different  interpre- 
tations, and  so  as  not  to  be  interpreted  with  any  confi- 
dence till  after  the  event ;  and  in  this  respect  they  were 
just  what  the  great  mass  of  learned  interpreters  and  ex- 
positors of  the  Scripture  prophecies  have  for  ages  taken 
them  to  be ;  imputing  to  them  a  double  sense :  to  their 
literal  language  a  figurative  meaning,  to  their  definite  local 
references  a  symbolical  import,  capable  only  of  being 
guessed  at,  and  in  general  regarding  them  as  enigmas — 
inspired  indeed  by  Him  who  is  head  over  all  things  for 
the  information  and  preservation  of  his  Church,  but  not 
intended  to  be  understood,  unless  by  those  who  survive 
the  events'  predicted. 

It  would  be  easy  to  show,  by  tracing  the  parallel  in 
numberless  other  and  more  minute  details,  that  the  false 
system  was  throughout  a  parody  of  the  true ;  and  to 
illustrate  the  ceaseless  antagonism  and  rivalship  which 
was  carried  on,  in  the  face  of  the  universe,  by  the  con- 
flict of  the  two  systems,  with  their  visible  agencies, 
institutions,  instrumentalities,  and  effects ;  occupying, 
directing  and  stimulating  the  attention  and  the  energies, 
the  thoughts  and  feelings,  the  hopes  and  fears,  and 
involving  the  temporal  well-being  and  the  immortal 
destiny  of  the  whole  race :  presenting  a  scene  which, 
whether  considered  in  relation  to  one  period  or  another, 
the  past  or  the  present,  Paganism  or  Romanism,  super- 
stition or  rationalism,  can  be  accounted  for,  with  or 
without  the  Bible,  upon  no  assumption  or  theory  but 
that  of  the  enmity  and  opposition  announced  and  com- 
menced in  Eden,  which  is  still  in.  progress  and  still  has 
a  future. 

In  the  progress  of  this  war,  the  Devil  and  his  angels, 


IN   MOSES  AND   THE    PROPHETS.  237 

the  Prince  of  the  power  of  the  air,  with  the  principali- 
ties, powers,  and  rulers  of  the  darkness  of  this  world 
under  him,  has,  from  policy  if  not  from  necessity,  kept 
concealed  behind  his  instruments.  But  the  heads  and 
leaders  of  his  visible  partisans  among  men,  whether  in 
the  abominations  of  heathenism,  the  enormities  of  idola- 
try, the  wars  and  butcheries  of  nations,  the  tyrannies  of 
government,  the  horrors  of  anarchy,  the  immolation  of 
human  victims,  the  persecution  and  slaughter  of  prophets 
and  martyrs,  or  in  the  no  less  fatal  systems  of  heresy, 
false  theology,  and  false  philosophy,  have  never  scrupled 
or  been  backward  to  do  the  utmost  he  could  wish  in 
furtherance  of  his  object.  Many  of  them,  like  the 
Cerinthians.  Marcionites,  Yalentinians,  and  other  preva- 
lent sects  in  the  first  ages  of  Christianity,  ascribed  to 
him  the  works  of  creation  and  providence  ;  and  there 
were  not  wanting  such  as  worshipped  him  by  name, 
and  others  under  the  designation  of  the  Serpent;  and 
still  others  who  paid  the  highest  honors  to  Cain,  Judas, 
and  similar  characters,  as  his  most  conspicuous  repre- 
sentatives. 

The  popular  notion  of  idolatry,  under  the  name  of 
polytheism,  as  if  it  involved  the  supposition  of  a  plurality 
of  supreme  deities,  owes  its  influence,  at  least  among 
those  who  read  the  English  version  of  the  Scriptures, 
to  the  fact  that  the  translators  rendered  the  designations 
of  the  god  of  the  idolatrous  system  as  plural,  though  in 
the  Hebrew  they  are  written  in  the  singular  number. 
Kuowing  that  there  was  but  one  true  God,  they  uni- 
formly rendered  Elohim  as  well  as  Elohe,  when  em- 
ployed with  reference  to  that  Being,  in  the  singular 
number ;  but  when  employed  with  reference  to  the  rival 
usurper,  the  false  god,  their  rendering  is  plural,  gods; 
as  if  the  molten  images  and  numberless  idols  in  other 


238  THE   MESSIAH 

forms,  instead  of  being  all  representative  of  one  supposed 
deit}-,  or  being  regarded  as  mediators,  or  representatives 
of  mediators  between  them  and  him,  were  themselves 
so  many  independent  deities.  Thus,  in  Laban's  remon- 
strance with  Jacob:  "Wherefore  hast  thou  stolen  my 
Elohe  T1  rendered  gods,  and  in  Jacob's  answer:  "With 
whomsoever  thou  findest  thy  JElohe"  rendered  gods,  the 
meaning  plainly  is,  (though  there  seems  to  have  been 
more  than  one  image,  teraphim-images,  v.  34,)  that 
which  represents  my  Elohe.  Gen.  xxxi.  30-32.  Again, 
Exod.  xx.  1-23:  "And  Elohim  spake  all  these  words: 
I  am  Jehovah  thy  Elohe;  thou  shalt  have  no  other 
Elohim  before  me.  Thou  shalt  not  make  unto  thee  any 
graven  image.  Ye  shall  not  make  with  me  Elohe  of 
silver;"  an  Elohe,  a  god,  rendered  gods.  "Neither  shall 
ye  make  unto  you  Elohe  of  gold;"  an  Elohe,  a  molten 
image  representative  of  me,  rendered  gods.  "Against 
the  Elohe  of  Egypt  I  will  execute  judgment."  Exod.  xii. 
12,  rendered,  "against  all  the  gods  of  Egypt,"  &c.  "Thou 
shalt  not  bow  .down  to  their  Elohe,"  {Eng.  gods.)  "  Ye 
shall  serve  Jehovah  your  EloheV  {Eng.  God.)  Exod. 
xxiii.  24,  25.  "Aaron  made  it  a  molten  calf:  and  they 
said,  This  is  thy  Elohe,  0  Israel,  which  brought  thee  up 
out  of  the  land  of  Egypt."  Exod.  xxxii.  4,  rendered, 
"  These  he  thy  gods,  0  Israel."  Undoubtedly  the  meaning 
is :  This  molten  image  is  a  visible  token  or  representative 
of  Jehovah  thy  Elohe — a  visible  mediator  or  medium 
of  intercourse  with  thy  Elohe,  in  place  of  Moses.  So 
Jeroboam,  having  made  two  such  images,  two  calves  of 
gold,  said :  "  Behold  thy  Elohe,  0  Israel,  which  brought 
thee  up  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt."  2  Kings  xii.  28;  ren- 
dered, Behold  thy  gods,  O  Israel.  This  usage  character- 
izes the  translation. 

Besides  the  absurdity  of  supposing  that  the  Israelites, 


IN   MOSES   AND   THE    PROPHETS.  239 

with  the  revelation  of  the  one  Supreme  Being  by  which 
they  were  distinguished,  or  that  the  heathen  should 
admit  the  notion  of  a  plurality  of  such  beings,  it  is 
apparent  from  the  nature  of  the  case  that  the  counter- 
feit of  the  true  system  must  originally,  in  order  to  its 
success,  have  been  a  counterfeit  in  this,  the  first  and 
most  essential  of  all  its  particulars.  The  very  nature 
of  the  antagonism,  and  the  false  system  of  mediation  by 
which  idolatry  was  sustained  and  rendered  practically 
successful,  required  this.  Even  when  Astarte,  as  Queen 
of  heaven,  was  associated  with  Baal,  it  was  only  in  a 
subordinate  relation,  as  mediatrix,  the  moon  being  her 
shekina,  and  her  office  being  the  prototype  of  that  of 
the  Popish  Mary ;  while  Baal  arrogated  the  prerogatives 
of  Jehovah,  and  the  sun  as  his  shekina. 

To  this  evil  being,  among  others,  the  following  desig- 
nations are  applied  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures :  Serpent, 
as  in  Gen.  iii. :  "  Jehovah  Elohim  said  unto  the  serpent, 
I  will  put  enmity  between  thee  and  the  woman,  and 
between  thy  seed  and  her  seed."  Thee,  the  "  tempter," 
"the  dragon,  that  old  serpent,  which  is  the  Devil  and 
Satan."  Kev.  xx.  "The  great  dragon,  that  old  serpent, 
called  the  Devil  and  Satan,  which  deceiveth  the  whole 
world."  Rev.  xii.  The  apostle  expresses  his  fear  "lest 
by  any  means"  the  false  teachers  should  corrupt  his 
converts,  "as  the  seipent  beguiled  Eve  through  his 
subtlety."  2  Cor.  xi.  The  original  word,  when  not  em- 
ployed as  a  personal  designation,  is  often  rendered  "en- 
chantment, divination, "  &c.  Satan  is  commonly  rendered 
adversary  ;  but  frequently  Satan,  as  a  personal  designa- 
tion of  the  Evil  One,  where  his  local  agency  is  particu- 
larly mentioned,  as  Job  i.  and  ii. ;  1  Chron.  xxi.  1; 
Zech.  iii.  1,  2. 

"  By  collecting  all  the  passages  where  Satan  or  the 


240  THE   MESSIAH 

Devil  is  mentioned,  it  may  be  observed  that  he  fell  from 
heaven,  with  all  his  company ;  that  God  cast  him  down 
from  thence  for  the  pnnishment  of  his  pride ;  that  by 
his  envy  and  malice,  sin,  death,  and  all  other  evils  came 
into  the  world ;  that  by  the  permission  of  God  he  exer- 
cises a  sort  of  government  in  the  world  over  his  sub- 
ordinates, over  apostate  angels  like  himself;  that  God 
makes  use  of  him  to  prove  good  men  and  chastise  bad 
ones;  that  he  is  a  lying  spirit  in  the  mouth  of  false 
prophets,  seducers,  and  heretics ;  that  it  is  he  or  some 
of  his  that  torment  or  possess  men ;  that  inspire  them 
with  evil  designs,  as  he  did  David,  when  he  suggested 
to  him  to  number  his  people ;  to  Judas,  to  betray  his 
Lord  and  Master,  and  to  Ananias  and  Sapphira,  to 
conceal  the  price  of  their  field.  That  he  roves  full  of 
rage,  like  a  roaring  lion,  to  tempt,  to  betray,  to  destroy 
us,  and  to  involve  us  in  guilt  and  wickedness.  That 
his  power  and  malice  are  restrained  within  certain  limits, 
and  controlled  by  the  will  of  God.  In  a  word,  that  he 
is  an  enemy  to  God  and  man,  and  uses  his  utmost  en- 
deavors to  rob  God  of  his  glory  and  men  of  their  souls." 
"Devil — a  most  wicked  angel,  the  implacable  enemy 
and  tempter  of  the  human  race.  He  is  called  Abaddon 
in  Hebrew,  Apollyon  in  Greek ;  that  is,  destroyer,  Rev. 
ix.  11.  Angel  of  the  bottomless  pit,  Prince  of  the  world, 
John  xii.  31.  Prince  of  darkness,  Ephes.  vi.  12.  A 
roaring  lion  and  an  adversary,  1  Pet.  v.  8.  A  sinner 
from  the  beginning,  1  John  iii.  8.  Beelzebub,  Matt, 
xii.  24.  Accuser,  Rev.  xii.  10.  Belial,  2  Cor.  vi.  15. 
Deceiver,  Rev.  xx.  10.  Dragon,  Rev.  xii.  3.  Liar, 
John  viii.  44.  Leviathan,  Isa.  xxvii.  7.  Lucifer,  Tsa. 
xiv.  12.  Murderer,  John  viii.  44.  Serpent,  Isa.  xxvii. 
1.  Satan,  Job  ii.  6.  Tormentor,  Matt,  xviii.  34.  The 
god  of  this  world,  2  Cor.  iv.  4.     He  is  compared  to  a 


EST   MOSES   AND  THE   PROPHETS.  241 

dog,  Ps.  xxii.  16.  Fowls,  Matt.  xiii.  4.  A  fowler,  Ps. 
xci.  3.  Lightning,  Luke  x.  18.  Locusts,  Eev.  v.  3.  A 
wolf,  John  x.  12.  An  adder,  Ps.  xci.  13.  These 
names  are  given  to  the  Prince  of  devils.  Devil  is  put 
for,  [1]  Idols,  Ps.  cvi.  37;  2  Chron.  xi.  15.  [2]  A 
wicked  man,  John  vi.  70.  [3]  Persecutor,  Eev.  ii.  10." 
Cruden's  Concordance,  Art.  "  Satan  and  Devil." 

This  fallen  being  was  expressly  worshipped  in  or 
through  the  form  of  the  serpent,  by  the  ancient  Persians, 
under  the  name  Ahriman;  by  the  Egyptians,  under  that 
of  Typhon;  by  the  Greeks,  under  that  of  Python ;  and 
by  the  Syrians,  Hindoos,  Mexicans,  and  other  nations, 
under  different  designations. 

In  Leviticus  xvii.  7,  Satan  and  his  angels  appear  to 
be  referred  to  under  the  word  devils,  where  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel  are  commanded  "to  sprinkle  the  blood 
of  animals  slain  by  them  on  the  altar  of  Jehovah,  at  the 
door  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation,  and  to  burn 
the  fat  for  a  sweet  savor  unto  Jehovah."  "And,"  it  is 
added  as  a  reason  of  the  command,  "  they  shall  no  more 
offer  their  sacrifices  unto  devils,  after  whom  they  have 
gone  a  whoring."  Probably  the  images  before  which 
they  thus  offered  sacrifices  were  those  of  goats,  as  the 
same  word  is  often  rendered  goats.  Again,  2  Chron.  ii. 
15,  it  is  said  of  Jeroboam  that  "  He  ordained  him 
priests  for  the  high  places,  and  for  the  devils,  and  for  the 
calves  which  he  had  made."  This  may  with  propriety 
be  rendered,  "  and  for  the  devils,  even  for  the  calves," 
the  representatives  of  Satan  which  he  had  made.  A 
different  original  word  is  rendered  devils,  Deut.  xxxii. 
17,  where  it  is  said  that  Israel  "forsook  God  which 
made  him,  and  lightly  esteemed  the  rock  of  his  salvation. 
They  provoked  him  to  jealousy,  &c.  They  sacrificed 
unto  devils,  not  to  God ;  to  Elohim  whom  they  knew 
11 


242  THE   MESSIAH 

not."  The  word  here  translated  devils  is  often  rendered 
spoiler,  destroyer,  destruction,  &c.  Doubtless  the  reference 
is  to  an  intelligence  beyond  any  visible  image.  The 
same  word  occurs,  Ps.  cvi.  36,  37:  "They  served  their 
idols,  which  were  a  snare  unto  them ;  yea,  they  sacrificed 
their  sons  and  their  daughters  unto  devils" 

Since  the  existence  of  the  fallen  angels  and  •  of  their 
prince  and  leader  was  known  from  the  beginning ;  and 
that  he  was  prince  and  leader  also  of  the  party  of  the 
human  race  which  was  at  enmity  with  the  true  wor- 
shippers of  Jehovah ;  and  since  they  manifested  their 
hostility  chiefly  in  their  false  system  of  religion,  it  seems 
reasonable  and  even  necessary  to  conclude  that  they 
followed  and  supported  their  leader  in  his  rivalship,  and, 
regarded  him,  however  represented  by  images,  as  the 
object  of  their  worship,  in  opposition  to  Jehovah,  the 
object,  through  sacrifices,  of  the  homage  of  his  worship- 
pers. In  this  view  of  their  conduct,  it  is  easy  to  con- 
ceive that  their  serving  and  worshipping  idols  should 
provoke  Jehovah  to  jealousy.  They  served  and  wor- 
shipped an  antagonist,  a  rival. 

Let  the  reader  suppose  himself  to  have  been  present 
as  a  disinterested  spectator  of  the  condition  of  the  Hebrew 
Church  in  Egypt  prior  to  the  legation  of  Moses ;  to  have 
witnessed  their  practice  of  the  rites  and  forms  of  the 
patriarchal  worship,  in  contrast  with  the  idol  worship 
of  the  Egyptians ;  to  have  witnessed  instances,  like  that 
of  Moses,  of  individuals  "choosing  rather  to  suffer 
affliction  with  the  people  of  God  than  to  enjoy  the  plea- 
sures of  sin  for  a  season ;  esteeming  the  reproach  of 
Christ  greater  riches  than  the  treasures  of  Egypt;"  to 
have  heard  their  sighs  and  cries  to  God  by  reason  of 
their  bondage,  and  known  that  "God  heard  their  groan- 
ing, and  remembered  his  covenant  with  Abraham,  with 


IN"   MOSES  AUB   THE   PROPHETS.  243 

Isaac,  and  with  Jacob,  and  looked  upon  the  children  of 
Israel,  and  had  respect  unto  them;"  and  that  the  Mes- 
senger Jehovah  said,  "I  have  surely  seen  the  affliction 
of  my  people,  and  have  heard  their  cry  by  reason  of 
their  task-masters ;  for  I  know  their  sorrows,  and  I  am 
come  down  to  deliver  them  out  of  the  hand  of  the 
Egyptians;"  and  further,  to  have  known  that  they  were 
familiar  with  the  historical  facts  of  the  patriarchal 
historjr,  and  of  the  appearances  of  Jehovah  in  the  form 
and  under  the  designation  of  man  to  Abraham  and  to 
Jacob,  and  often  visibly  as  the  Messenger  Jehovah  ;  and 
that  altars  were  erected,  and  sacrifices  and  prayers  were 
offered  to  him  in  that  form ;  and  that  he  was  customarily 
recognized  and  worshipped  in  that  form,  at  places 
specially  appropriated  by  him  for  that  purpose,  where 
he  was  to  be  invoked  and  acknowledged  as  Jehovah  the 
Elohe  of  Abraham ;  and  he  will  the  more  easily  con- 
ceive, in  some  degree,  of  the  enormity  of  the  insult  and 
provocation  offered  by  the  partisans  of  the  rival  coun- 
terfeit system,  in  erecting  altars,  offering  sacrifices,  and 
bowing  themselves  down  before  molten  images  as  re- 
presentatives of  the  great  antagonist  intelligence ;  or,  as 
in  the  case  of  Aaron,  Micah,  Jeroboam  and  others,  as  re- 
presentatives of  Jehovah.  If  the  reader  suppose  himself 
to  have  witnessed  the  appalling  demonstrations  against 
the  false  system,  in  the  plagues  of  Egypt,  at  the  Red 
Sea,  at  Mount  Sinai,  and  in  the  wilderness,  in  connection 
with  the  visible  presence,  agency,  and  glory  of  the  Mes- 
siah ;  or  under  a  vivid  impression  of  the  reality  and 
import  of  these  scenes  and  wonders ;  to  have  been  pres- 
ent at  those  periods  and  on  those  occasions  when  the 
defection  of  the  Israelites  to  image  and  Baal  worship 
was  specially  marked  and  signally  punished,  his  impres- 
sion of  the  nature  of  the  antagonism,  and  the  enormity 


244  THE   MESSIAH 

of  the  provocation  and  insult,  cannot  fail  to  be  height- 
ened. 

The  apostle  Paul,  treating  (Rom.  i.)  of  the  defection 
of  men  to  idolatry,  says,  "they  changed  the  glory  of  the 
incorruptible  God  into  an  image  made  like  to  corruptible 
man,  and  to  birds,  and  four-footed  beasts,  and  creeping 
things:"  meaning,  it  is  presumed,  that  they  ascribed  to 
the  images  of  those  creatures — which  they  made  and 
served  as  representatives  of  the  created  intelligence 
whom  they  worshipped — the  attributes,  perfections,  and 
prerogatives  which  he  had  conspicuously  and  gloriously 
manifested  in  his  works  of  creation  and  providence. 
Whether  the  formation  of  such  images  was  coeval  with 
the  earliest  practice  of  idolatrous  rites  or  not,  may  be  a 
question.  But  in  the  selection  of  men,  birds,  and  four- 
footed  beasts  as  models  of  the  forms  of  the  images  earliest 
employed  in  their  idolatry,  there  is  ground  to  presume 
that  they  copied  or  simulated  the  cherubic  figures  so 
familiar  to  the  Israelites  under  the  Levitical  economy, 
and  probably  to  the  Church  at  all  previous  times,  as  a 
constituent  of  the  instituted  system  of  manifestation  and 
instruction,  from  the  appearance  of  the  cherubim  at  the 
gate  of  Eden.  That  primeval  appearance  demonstrates 
that  they  were  not  borrowed  from  any  institution  or 
example  of  the  idolaters ;  and  in  so  capital  a  point  as 
that  of  instituting  representative  images  in  their  an- 
tagonist system,  they  would  be  sure  to  counterfeit,  and 
to  pervert  from  its  office  and  meaning  in  the  true  system, 
whatever  would  serve  the  purpose  of  craft  and  deception. 
In  respect  to  "  creeping  things,"  they  had  in  the  serpent 
a  prototype  altogether  their  own,  which,  when  the  images 
previously  mentioned  had  been  adopted,  and  impiously 
consecrated  to  idolatry,  might  easily  be  brought  into 
use. 


IN   MOSES  AND  THE   PROPHETS.  245 

Parkhurst,  under  the  word  Cherubim,  in  his  Hebrew 
Lexicon,  describes  no  less  than  sixty  examples  in  which 
heads  or  other  parts  resembling  the  cherubic  figures  are 
incorporated  in  the  objects  of  idolatrous  homage  of  dif- 
ferent heathen  nations. 

Maimonides,  as  quoted  by  Parkhurst,  says  that  the 
first  idolaters  regarded  the  heavenly  bodies  as  messengers 
or  mediators  of  a  supreme,  infinite,  invisible  Being.  In 
the  worship  of  those  bodies,  or  rather  of  the  mediating 
intelligence  supposed  to  reside  in  them,  either  because 
they  were  often  out  of  sight,  or  for  other  reasons,  they 
selected  representative  creatures,  chiefly  of  the  species 
comprised  in  the  four-faced  cherubim,  but  sometimes 
of  other  species,  and  among  them  of  the  serpent,  and  at 
length  of  mineral  and  metallic  images  of  such  creatures. 

In  a  number  of  the  examples  cited  by  Parkhurst,  the 
serpent,  or  the  serpent's  head,  appears  conspicuous; 
and  particularly  in  idol  forms  representative  of  the  sun 
or  Baal.  In  most  of  the  images,  the  human  form  pre- 
dominates; around  which  the  serpent  often  appears 
entwined.  The  cherubic  wings  are  indifferently  attached 
to  the  human  and  the  leading  animal  forms,  and  to  the 
serpent.  The  combinations,  especially  of  heads,  in  these 
representative  images,  strikingly  suggest  that  the  example 
of  the  cherubic  faces  was  perverted  to  be  the  basis  of  the 
system,  and  that  the  serpent,  when  not  exhibited  as  a 
distinct  and  sole  object  of  homage,  was  foisted  in 
and  superadded  to  the  figures  which  were  familiar  in 
the  original  system  of  revealed  religion.  In  most  of  the 
complex  forms  in  which  different  animals  are  combined, 
reference  appears  to  have  been  had  to  the  sun  or  Baal, 
i.  e.  to  Satan,  the  supposed  mediating  intelligence  resident 
in  the  sun. 

In  a  published  account  of  two  "sculptured  images" 


246  THE   MESSIAH 

disinterred  by  Mr.  Layard  from  the  ruins  of  ancient 
Nineveh,  and  forwarded  by  him  to  Williams  College, 
Mass.,  being  supposed  to  have  "been  buried  in  the  ruins 
of  that  city  not  less  than  twenty -five  hundred  years," 
and  to  be  samples  of  the  earliest  "idols"  instituted  in 
that  capital,  the  date  of  which  is  supposed  to  be  about 
one  hundred  and  thirty  years  after  the  deluge,  the 
figure  of  one  is  described  as  "that  of  a  man  with  wings 
and  an  eagtts  head  and  beak,  well  proportioned.  The 
two  wings,  springing  from  the  back  of  the  shoulders, 
are  gracefully  spread."  The  other  is  a  figure  simply  of 
a  man,  seven  and  a  half  feet  in  height.  They  are  pro- 
nounced "perfect  of  their  kind.  The  slabs  on  which 
they  are  sculptured  are  dark  gypsum,  such  as  are  de- 
scribed as  lining  the  walls  of  the  rooms  and  passages  of 
the  ruin,  which  Layard  regards  as  having  constituted 
at  once  the  temple  and  palace  of  the  king.  One  of  the 
slabs  is  seven  feet,  and  the  other  seven  and  a  half  feet 
high,  and  they  are  each  three  feet  and  two  inches  wide. 
The  figures  are  the  whole  length  of  the  slabs." 

Here  is  a  manifest,  and  in  all  likelihood  a  surreptitious 
combination  of  two  of  the  figures  in  the  cherubic  em- 
blem, which,  without  some  prototype,  and  a  prototype 
already  associated  with  the  religion  which  was  to  be 
renounced,  perverted,  and  counterfeited,  would  not  be 
likely  to  occur,  or  to  be  easily  brought  into  use  and 
favor.  An  existing  and  familiar  prototype  might  be 
copied  exactly — as  altars,  sacrifices,  incense,  and  various 
rites  appear  to  have  been — or  with  some  modifications, 
and  yet  be  readily  adopted.  In  this  view  it  would  be 
obvious  to  argue,  that  as  Jehovah  often  appeared  on 
earth  in  the  similitude  of  man,  and  thereby  taught  and 
virtually  anticipated  his  future  predicted  incarnation ; 
and  as  that  form  was  associated  with  others  in  the  cher- 


IN  MOSES  AND  THE   PROPHETS.  247 

ubic  emblem,  therefore  that  emblem  might  be  taken  as 
representative  of  the  Intelligence  to  be  worshipped,  and 
as  teaching  the  doctrine  of  his  incarnation  not  merely 
in  the  form  and  nature  of  man,  but  also  in  birds,  four- 
footed  beasts,  and  all  other  creatures  brought  into  ex- 
istence by  him.  Such  pantheism  undoubtedly  resulted. 
But  had  the  first  forms  of  images  been  wholly  an 
original  device  of  the  idolaters,  they  would  naturally 
have  selected  not  complex,  but  simple  ones.  They 
would  have  copied  nature.  They  would  in  all  prob- 
ability have  selected  first  the  human  form;  but  they 
would  have  taken  that  as  it  visibly  appears,  without  a 
mysterious  and  inexplicable  combination  of  inferior 
natures  with  it. 

Next,  they  would  very  likely  select  the  bird — the 
eagle — whose  flight  transcends  the  clouds,  and  whose 
eye  endures  the  blaze  of  solar  light ;  and  next,  the  most 
docile  and  most  useful,  and  then  the  most  powerful  and 
sagacious  quadrupeds;  in  all  instances,  as  is  held  by 
Warburton  and  others,  and  is  highly  probable  in  itself, 
employing  images  and  pictures  long  before  they  idolized 
the  animals  themselves. 

A  progress  and  an  analogy  of  this  kind — notwithstand- 
ing that  the  whole  subject  of  idolatry,  its  origin,  its 
nature,  its  rationale,  its  import  as  an  antagonism  to  the 
revealed  religion,  and  as  involving  the  reason  and  an 
intelligible  and  ample  justification  of  the  jealousy,  wrath, 
indignation,  judgments,  retributions,  and  finally  of  ex- 
terminating vengeance  against  it,  has  been  mystified 
and  misrepresented,  under  the  rabbinical  and  figurative 
systems  formerly  adverted  to — might  be  traced,  and  in- 
definitely illustrated,  by  reference  to  the  Sphinxes,  Cen- 
taurs, Pans,  &c,  of  the  Egyptians,  Greeks,  and  Eomans ; 
the  Brahmas,  the  Vishnus,  the  Sivas,  and  the  incarna- 


248  THE    MESSIAH 

tions  and  transmigrations  of  India,  and  the  Boodism 
and  Lamaism  of  the  whole  Eastern  world. 

The  notion  of  local  deities,  national  gods,  &c,  implied 
the  doctrine  of  incarnation,  and  was  no  doubt  suggested 
bj  the  Theophanies  of  the  patriarchal  history  and  the 
Theocracy  of  the  Mosaic,  administered  by  the  Messen- 
ger Jehovah,  locally  present  in  the  tabernacle  in  a  cloud- 
like form,  where  he  was  inquired  of  in  respect  to 
things  future,  and  held  converse  with  Moses,  Joshua, 
and  their  successors.  In  imitation,  the  devotees  of 
Baal  conceived  of  him  as  present  in  their  temples, 
inhabiting  the  forms  of  their  idols,  and  hearing  their 
statements  and  requests. 

Thus  Moses  returned  to  Jehovah  as  present  in  the 
burning  bush,  and  said,  "0  Adonai!  wherefore,"  &c. 
Exod.  v.  22.  "And  David  the  king  came  and  sat  before 
Jehovah,  [i.e.,  in  the  tabernacle,]  and  said,"  &c.  1  Chron. 
xvii.  16. 

So,  on  the  other  hand,  "  The  Philistines  took  Saul's 
head  and  his  armor,  and  sent  into  the  land  of  the  Phil- 
istines round  about,  to  carry  tidings  unto  their  idols  and 
to  the  people.  And  they  put  his  armor  in  the  house 
of  their  gods,  and  fastened  his  head  in  the  temple  of 
Dagon."     1  Chron.  x.  9,  10. 

Mr.  Layard,  in  his  recent  account  of  "Nineveh  and 
its  Remains,"  observes,  that  the  sculptured  Avails  which 
he  explored  continually  exhibited  forms  corresponding 
to  the  description  of  the  living  creatures  seen  in  vision 
by  Ezekiel,  (chap.  i. ;)  and  also  what  he  supposes  may 
have  represented  the  wheel  spoken  of  in  that  descrip- 
tion— the  former  showing  the  face  of  a  man,  a  lion, 
an  ox,  and  an  eagle  ;  and  the  latter,  a  winged  circle 
or  globe,  hovering  above  the  head  of  the  king,  as  an 
emblem  of  the  supreme  deity  of  the  Assyrian  nation ; 


EST  MOSES  AND   THE   PROPHETS.  249 

with,  a  winged  figure  in  the  middle,  representing  the 
sun.  The  king,  he  adds,  may,  as  in  Egypt,  have 
been  regarded  as  the  representative  on  earth  of  the 
deity,  of  whom  the  emblem  is  exhibited  as  above  his 
head  in  battle,  during  his  triumphs,  and  when  he  cele- 
brates the  sacred  ceremonies.  The  author,  who  sup- 
poses the  station  of  Ezekiel  by  the  river  of  Chebar  to 
have  been  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Nineveh,  ab- 
surdly indicates  that,  "As  the  prophet  had  beheld  the 
Assyrian  palaces,  with  their  mysterious  images  and  gor- 
geous decorations,  it  is  highly  probable  that,  when 
seeking^  to  typify  certain  Divine  attributes  and  to  de- 
scribe the  Divine  gloiy,  he  chose  forms  that  were  not 
only  familiar  to  him,  but  to  the  people  whom  he  ad- 
dressed, captives  like  himself  in  the  land  of  Assyria. 
He  chose  the  four  living  creatures,  with  four  faces, 
four  wings,"  &c.  The  forms  which  the  prophet  saw  in 
vision  assuredly  did  not  depend  upon  his  choice ;  and 
if  they  had,  he  would  not  have  represented  the  true 
God  by  forms  borrowed  from  idolatry.  Nor  is  it  likely 
that  the  captives  were  admitted  to  the  palaces  of  their 
Assyrian  conquerors.  These  forms,  on  the  contrary, 
having  been  familiar  in  the  patriarchal  system  of  re- 
vealed religion,  had  been  simulated  by  the  earliest 
idolaters. 

Bat  the  most  comprehensive  and  striking  illustrations 
of  idolatry,  as  a  studied,  rival,  antagonistic  counterfeit 
of  the  revealed  system  and  true  worship,  are  to  be  de- 
rived from  those  symbols  of  the  Apocalypse  which 
relate  to  Antichrist ;  to  the  two-horned  wild  beast  and 
the  image — the  great  Antagonist,  and  his  Papal  agents 
under  that  character;  to  his  arrogation  of  the  attri- 
butes, prerogatives,  rights,  throne,  dominion  and  hom- 
age of  God  the  Mediator,  assumption  of  his  titles  and 
11* 


250  THE   MESSIAH 

office,  and  exercise  of  authority  as  lawgiver  over  his 
people  ;  and  from  those  symbols  which  relate  to  the 
fall  and  destruction  of  Great  Babylon,  and  the  impris- 
onment of  "  the  ancient  Serpent,  who  is  the  Devil  and 
Satan ;"  as  those  symbols  are  explained  and  rendered 
intelligible  in  "An  Exposition  of  the  Apocalypse,  by 
David  N.  Lord ;"  a  work  distinguished  by  its  discovery 
of  and  adherence  to  scriptural  interpretations  of  sym- 
bols, and  by  its  originality  in  every  respect.  (See  note 
A  at  the  end.) 

The  great  fabric  of  pagan  idolatry,  as  a  rival  system 
to  the  true  religion,  and  a  counterfeit  Theocracy,  com- 
bining the  civil  with  the  religious  administration,  was 
the  organism  through  which  the  Arch-usurper  carried 
on  his  rivalship  in  all  the  heathen  nations  down  to  the 
age  of  Constantine.  Then,  to  meet  the  exigences  of 
his  case,  in  opposition  to  Christianity  in  the  Roman 
Empire,  he  made  the  ecclesiastical  hierarchies  in  union 
with  the  civil  government  the  medium  of  his  rule. 
When  the  empire  was  divided,  the  eastern  from  the 
western  portion,  leaving  the  eastern  under  the  dragon 
sway  of  preceding  ages,  he  assumed  for  the  western  that 
of  the  wild  beast  and  false  prophet — the  civil  rulers  of 
the  ten  kingdoms  and  the  Papal  hierarchy.  Under 
these  organizations  he  has,  in  both  divisions  of  that 
empire,  continued  to  exhibit  more  boldly  and  arrogantly 
even  than  in  the  regions  of  ancient  paganism,  his  usurp- 
ations of  the  Divine  prerogatives ;  warring  against  the 
Lamb,  corrupting  and  opposing  the  propagation  of  the 
gospel,  persecuting  and  slaughtering  the  saints ;  and 
will  continue  that  career  till  finally  vanquished  and 
imprisoned.  The  issue  at  the  advent  of  the  incarnate 
Word  with  the  armies  of  heaven,  the  incarceration  of 
the  great  Usurper,  and  the  dejection  of  his  followers 


IN  MOSES  AND  THE   PROPHETS.  251 

into  the  lake  of  fire,  strikingly  indicate  the  nature  and 
purpose  of  his  previous  antagonism  and  rivalship. 
Prolonged  and  desperate  as  his  rebellion  and  usurpation 
had  been,  extended  and  arrogant  as  were  his  pretensions 
and  sway  as  god  of  this  world,  the  mystery  of  his  ini- 
quity is  at  length  terminated  by  the  exercise,  through 
visible  agencies,  of  Divine  power  over  his  person.  (See 
note  B.) 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

On  the  question,  How  it  has  happened,  since  the  origin  of  the  Nicene 
Creed,  that  the  Old  Testament  has  been  understood  to  ascribe  the 
Creation,  not  to  the  Christ,  but  to  the  Father. 

Since  the  New  Testament  distinctly  ascribes  the 
work  of  creation  to  the  official  Person  called  the  Logos 
and  the  Christ,  and,  in  harmony  with  the  Old,  demon- 
strates his  identity  with  Jehovah,  Elohim,  and  the 
Messenger  Jehovah,  it  may  justly  occasion  surprise  and 
deserve  inquiry,  how  it  has  happened  that  the  Old 
Testament  has,  both  by  Jews  and  Christians,  so  long 
and  so  generally  been  construed,  as  in  our  own  and 
other  modern  translations,  to  ascribe  those  works,  not 
to  Him,  personally  or  officially,  but  to  the  Father,  or 
to  the  Deity  irrespective  of  any  personal  distinctions  or 
official  relations. 

As  preliminary  to  this  inquiry,  it  may  be  observed, 
that  the  office  which  belonged  to  him  in  his  delegated 
character  was   constituted   before  the  creation  of  the 


252  THE  MESSIAH 

world.  That  office  included  the  redemption  of  his  peo- 
ple, who  were  chosen  in  him  before  the  creation.  His 
relation  to  them,  therefore,  did  not  commence  after  the 
fall,  nor  after  the  creation.  For  his  official  work  in- 
cludes the  work  of  redemption  ;  and  since  those  to  be 
redeemed  were  before  the  creation  chosen  in  him,  what- 
ever in  his  mediatorial  person,  office  and  character  be- 
longs to  him  as  their  Eedeemer,  must  have  been  consti- 
tuted prior  to  the  work  of  creation.  And  since  the 
works  of  creation  and  providence  had,  and  continue  to 
have,  an  intimate  connection  with  the  work  of  redemp- 
tion, and  are  in  some  things  identical  with  that  work, 
we  must  conclude  that  whatever  belongs  officially  to  his 
person  and  character  was  constituted  prior  to  the  crea- 
tion ;  and  that  the  covenant  transaction,  in  which  the 
second  person  of  the  Trinity  was  appointed  and  under- 
took to  be  the  Redeemer,  comprised  all  that  appertains 
to  the  constitution  of  his  person  and  office  as  Mediator ; 
so  that  thenceforth  he  was  in  a  capacity  to  act  officially  in 
his  delegated  character  as  Mediator,  as  truly  aud  perfectly 
as  at  any  subsequent  period.  The  connection  and  con- 
sistency of  the  entire  plan  of  creation,  providence,  and 
redemption,  in  its  relations  to  him  in  the  progress  of  its 
execution,  require  this  conclusion  ;  and  hence  the  par- 
ticularity and  emphasis  with  which  the  apostles,  in  set- 
ting forth  his  prerogatives  as  Mediator  and  Redeemer, 
for  the  conviction  of  those  who  saw  him  only  as  man, 
assert  that  he  was  in  the  beginning — i.e.,  in  the  dele- 
gated official  character  which  they  then  ascribed  to  him  ; 
that  he  was  before  all  things ;  that  by  him  all  things 
consist ;  that  in  the  beginning  he  laid  the  foundation  of 
the  earth,  created  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  brought 
into  existence  all  creatures  visible  and  invisible ;  that 
he  was  in  respect  to  the  entire  system  the  Alpha  and 


IN  MOSES  AND   THE   PROPHETS.  253 

Omega,  First  and  Last.  Their  object  required  that  all 
this  should  be  believed  of  him  in  the  official  person  and 
character  in  which  for  the  suffering  of  death  he  ap- 
peared incarnate.  It  was  in  no  respect  to  their  purpose  to 
assert  of  him  that  as  Divine,  or  in  his  Divine  nature,  he 
existed  prior  to  the  creation,  and  exercised  creative 
power.  The  whole  question  was  as  to  the  complex, 
delegated  official  person  and  character  of  him  who  visi- 
bly appeared,  wrought  miracles,  and  was  called  Jesus, 
the  Christ.  It  is  with  reference  to  this  that  they  assert 
his  preexistence,  ascribe  to  him  the  works  of  creation 
and  providence,  and  declare  him  to  be  the  only  Media- 
tor between  God  and  man — the  only  medium  of  ref- 
lations and  intercourse  between  the  invisible  Deity  and 
creatures. 

This  is  what  the  apostate,  idolatrous  and  infidel 
world,  in  subserviency  to  the  great  Adversary  and  his 
followers,  have  ever  opposed.  This  is  the  question  to 
be  decided  to  the  full  and  final  conviction  of  the  whole 
universe,  in  the  battles  described  in  Eev.  xix.  and  xx. ; 
in  the  first  of  which  the  Mediator,  in  the  person  of 
Jesus,  clothed  ivith  a  vesture  dipped  in  blood,  and  called 
The  Word  of  God,  appears  in  his  glory,  and  vanquishes 
the  Arch-enemy  and  all  his  adherents  ;  and  in  the  second, 
fire  from  heaven  devours  his  enemies  of  the  human  race, 
and  the  Devil  that  deceived  them  is  cast  into  the  lake 
of  fire,  to  be  tormented  for  ever  and  ever.  Then,  every 
tongue  will  acknowledge  the  true  character  of  this  Per- 
sonage. Then  will  be  solved  the  mystery  concerning 
the  creation  of  all  things  by  Jesus  Christ,  to  the  intent 
that  unto  the  principalities  and  powers  in  heavenly 
places  might  be  known  by  the  Church — i.e.,  by  the  re- 
demption of  the  Church,  as  comprising  substantially  all 
the  works  of  providence — the  manifold  wisdom  of  God, 


254  THE   MESSIAH 

according  to  the  eternal  purpose  which,  he  purposed  in 
Christ  Jesus  our  Lord.     Ephes.  iii. 

The  great  purpose  of  the  works  of.  creation,  provi- 
dence and  redemption  is,  to  manifest  the  Divine  perfec- 
tions to  intelligent  creatures ;  so  to  instruct  them  in  the 
knowledge  of  God,  and  so  to  display  his  righteousness 
and  the  nature  and  evil  of  sin,  that  they  might  discern 
the  glorious  excellency,  holiness,  loveliness,  amiableness 
and  beauty  of  the  character  revealed,  and  cordially  love, 
obey  and  enjoy  him  for  ever.  This  purpose  is  from  the 
beginning  executed  by  the  Mediator,  in  the  delegated 
character  in  which  he  appears  at  its  consummation. 

His  office,  accordingly,  placed  him  as  the  medium  of 
all  relations  and  communications  between  the  invisible 
Deity  and  creatures ;  and  his  official  undertaking  com- 
prised the  works  of  creation,  providence,  and  redemp- 
tion ;  the  manifestation  of  the  Divine  perfections ;  the 
vindication  of  the  Divine  prerogatives,  laws,  and  go- 
vernment ;  the  redemption  of  lost  men ;  the  union,  con- 
firmation and  blessedness  of  all  holy  creatures  under 
him  as  King,  and  the  subjection  and  punishment  of 
Satan,  the  fallen  angels  and  wicked  men. 

From  the  nature  of  intelligent  creatures,  and  their 
relations  to  one  another  and  to  material  objects,  the  exe- 
cution of  this  undertaking  required  a  course  of  external 
and  visible  facts  connected  both  with  his  and  their 
agency.  They  were  to  be  instructed  both  in  respect  to 
themselves  and  to  him ;  and  as  the  visibility  of  their 
persons  and  acts  was  necessary  to  their  instruction  con- 
cerning one  another,  the  visibility  of  his  person  and  acts 
was  necessary  on  the  same  account. 

It  is  evident  that  the  Mediator  has,  officially,  relations 
to  the  holy  angels,  not  only  as  their  Creator,  but  in 
other  respects.     They  are  required  to  worship  him  in 


IN   MOSES  ANP  THE   PROPHETS.  256 

that  character,  ?'.  e.,  in  the  character  in  which  he  came 
into  the  world.  Heb.  i.  6.  They  are  employed  in  ex- 
ecuting the  measures  of  his  mediatorial  administration. 
Heb.  i.  14.  They  attended  his  person  on  the  occasion  of 
his  advent,  his  temptation,  his  sufferings  and  resurrec- 
tion, and  join  his  people  in  their  songs  and  praises,  in 
view  of  his  final  triumph  and  exaltation. 

As. Mediator,  he  is  invested  with  all  power  in  heaven 
and  earth.  All  judgment  is  committed  to  him  in  that 
capacity,  "because  he  is  the  Son  of  man,"  the  official 
Person ;  and  we  must  conclude  that  his  official  work 
comprises  all  Divine  operations  relating  to  creatures. 

In  the  phraseology  both  of  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ments, where  God  is  represented  as  acting  or  speaking, 
the  expression  in  most  cases  is  such  as  would  occur  were 
there  no  distinction  of  persons  in  the  Godhead,  unless 
we  understand,  wherever  the  text  does  not  in  terms  or 
in  the  nature  of  the  subject  indicate  another  reference, 
that  the  appellations,  Elohim,  Jehovah,  Messenger  Je- 
hovah, &c,  are  employed  to  designate  the  Mediator,  per- 
sonally and  officially.  But  so  understood,  he  stands 
forth  the  external  representative,  the  visible  image,  the 
outward  manifestation,  the  official  agent,  the  messenger 
of  the  Father,  and  as  such  reveals  Him ;  and  by  the 
mission  and  cooperation  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  work 
of  redemption,  that  Divine  Person  is  made  known.  The 
entire  scheme  respecting  the  creation  and  government  of 
creatures  being  in  the  counsels  of  eternity  assigned  to 
the  second  Person,  as  the  official  agent  and  messenger 
delegated  and  sent  of  the  Father,  it  appertained  to  him 
to  make  known  to  creatures  all  that  they  are  to  know 
of  the  being  and  perfections  of  the  One  God  and  the 
distinction  of  persons  in  the  Godhead. 

Accordingly  the  Deity,  without  any  special  indication 


256  THE   MESSIAH 

of  personal  or  official  relations,  is  often  referred  to  under 
the  terms  Jehovah  and  Elohim,  where  the  object  re- 
quired only  a  distinction  of  divine  from  creature  attri- 
butes or  agency.  In  this  way,  in  one  class  of  passages, 
God  is  said  to  do  the  same  things  which  in  another 
class  are  expressly  ascribed  to  the  Messenger  Jehovah, 
the  Christ,  the  Word. 

But  where  a  reference  is  made  to  any  thing  in  the 
economy  of  redemption,  or  any  thing  involving  official 
acts  or  relations,  official  titles  are  introduced,  or  a 
phraseology  is  employed,  by  which  the  intended  mean- 
ing is  expressed.  The  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy 
Spirit  are  clearly  distinguished,  or  their  personality,  re- 
lations and  agency  are  indicated  by  the  nature  of  the 
things  recorded,  or  by  the  connections  in  which  they 
occur. 

It  is  in  this  view  that  we  understand  all  those  pas- 
sages in  which  the  divine  names  and  the  official  titles  of 
the  Mediator  are  interchangeably  applied  to  the  same 
Person.  In  all  such  cases  the  things  affirmed  are  in 
other  passages  affirmed  of  the  Messiah,  undertimes  which 
exclusively  belong  to  him.  He  is  in  this  manner  an- 
nounced in  the  Old  Testament  as  Jehovah,  the  Elohe  of 
Abraham,  the  Creator,  &c.  The  patriarchs  and  pro- 
phets knew  God,  as  manifested  in  him  in  his  delegated, 
official,  personal  character.  That  they  were  enlightened 
in  respect  to  the  invisible  Deity  absolutely  considered, 
and  in  respect  to  the  distinction  of  Persons,  is  no  more 
to  be  doubted  than  that  they  were  enlightened  as  to  the 
great  Eevealer.  The  sublime  conceptions  proper  to 
this  subject  were  undoubtedly  so  imparted,  received, 
and  cherished  as  to  render  the  doctrine  of  mediation  and 
of  the  delegated  personal  character  of  the  Mediator  an 
intelligible  and  practical  doctrine.     This  may  be  infer- 


IN   MOSES  AND  THE   PROPHETS.  257 

red,  not  only  from  all  that  is  recorded  concerning  the 
religion  of  the  patriarchs,  the  sacrifices,  prayers,  types 
and  symbols  connected  with  their  worship,  bat  also 
from  the  theory  of  the  earliest  idolatry,  which  was  a 
rival  system,  and  was  based  upon  the  idea  of  mediation 
between  a  supreme  invisible  Deity  and  creatures,  and 
consisted  in  regarding  as  mediators  created  intelligences, 
supposed  to  reside  in  the  planetary  orbs,  and  in  images 
or  idols  as  their  representatives.  It  is  obvious,  in- 
deed, from  the  nature  of  the  case,  that  where  any  no- 
tion of  mediation  and  a  Mediator  prevailed,  and  was 
indicated  in  the  rites  and  institutions  of  worship,  there, 
and,  above  all,  under  a  system  of  revealed  religion  and 
acceptable  worship,  an  apprehension  more  or  less  dis- 
tinct, enlarged  and  just  of  the  invisible  Deity,  of  the 
concealed  as  well  as  of  the  revealed  God,  must  have  been 
entertained. 

Nevertheless,  concerning  this  subject  much  was  re- 
served to  be  taught  by  the  Mediator  in  his  incarnate 
state,  when  the  distinction  of  Persons  in  the  Godhead 
and  their  official  designations  could  be  rendered  plain 
by  his  visible  personal  acts,  his  verbal  explanations, 
and  the  agency  and  gifts  ascribed  to  the  Holy  Spirit. 
This  was  in  accordance  with  the  progress  and  analogy 
of  revelation  in  other  respects.  Besides,  we  may  well 
believe  that  there  was  originally,  and  during  the  Mo- 
saic period,  extreme  difficulty  in  instructing  men  on 
those  high  themes  concerning  the  invisible  and  spi- 
ritual, as  may  be  inferred  from  the  rooted  and  lasting 
propensity  of  the  Israelites  to  visible  symbols  and  ma- 
terial images,  and  from  the  limited  prevalence  of  the 
clearer  inculcations  of  the  gospel  down  to  the  present 
day.  Men  did  not  and  do  not  like  to  retain  God  in 
their  knowledge. 


258  THE   MESSIAH 

Hence  the  language  of  our  Saviour  iu  teaching  the 
Divine  unity  and  spirituality,  and  the  distinction,  of- 
fices and  relations  of  the  Persons  of  the  Godhead.  He 
taught  that  God  is  a  Spirit,  invisible,  infinite,  eternal, 
unchangeable;  of  himself,  that  he  came  out  from  God; 
came  forth  from  the  invisible  to  the  visible  world; 
that  he  should  withdraw  from  the  visible  to  the  in- 
visible, so  as  not  to  be  seen ;  that  he  should  afterwards 
visibly  reappear ;  that  God  the  Father  sent  him ;  that 
the  power  which  he  exercised  in  his  miracles  was  a 
divine  attribute,  and  proved  his  divinity ;  that  those 
who  witnessed  his  miracles,  witnessed  the  exercise  of 
the  power  of  the  invisible  Deity,  which  was  the  power 
of  the  Father  who  had  sent  him,  as  well  as  his  own ; 
and  therefore  they  saw  the  Father  in  the  same  works 
in  which  they  saw  him ;  for  in  respect  to  their  nature 
as  divine,  He  and  the  Father  were  one. 

But  even  his  disciples  did  not  at  first  understand  his 
meaning.  "  Philip  saith  unto  him,  Lord,  show  us  the 
Father,  and  it  sumceth  us.  Jesus  saith  unto  him,  Have 
I  been  so  long  time  with  you,  and  yet  hast  thou  not 
known  me,  Philip?  He  that  hath  seen  me  hath  seen 
the  Father."  That  is,  I  act  officially,  exercising  the 
power  of  the  Deity,  which  is  delegated  to  me  by  the 
Father.  He  who  sees  in  my  works  a  demonstration  of 
my  personality  and  divinity,  sees  at  the  same  time  in 
those  works  the  only  outward  and  visible  demonstra- 
tion that  can  be  made  to  men  of  the  personality  and 
divinity  of  the  Father.  The  power  which  I  exercise 
is  possessed  by  me  in  common  with  the  Father,  though 
personally  and  officially  exercised  by  me.  That  power 
is  a  divine  attribute,  and  in  respect  to  it  as  an  attribute, 
I  and  the  Father  are  one. 

To  confirm  this  instruction,  he  promises  to  do  for 


IN  MOSES  AND  THE   PROPHETS.  259 

his  disciples  what  they  should  ask  of  the  Father  in  his 
name  ;  and  informs  them  that  he  should  leave  them,  as 
to  his  visible  presence,  and  go  the  Father,  and  that  he 
would  manifest  himself  to  them  by  the  official  personal 
agency  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  whom  the  Father  would 
send  in  his  name,  to  dwell  with  them,  be  in  them,  show 
them  the  things  which  respected  himself,  teach  them 
all  things,  and  bring  all  things  to  their  remembrance. 
John  xiv. 

Continuing  to  instruct  them  on  this  subject,  in  the 
two  next  chapters,  he  says,  "When  He,  the  Spirit  of 
truth,  is  come,  he  will  guide  you  into  all  truth.  He 
shall  glorify  me,  for  he  shall  receive  of  mine,  and  shall 
show  it  unto  you.  At  that  day  ye  shall  ask  in  my 
name :  and  I  say  not  that  I  will  pray  the  Father  for 
you;  for  the  Father  himself  loveth  you,  because  ye 
have  loved  me,  and  have  believed  that  I  came  out  from 
Grod.  I  came  forth  from  the  Father,  and  am  come  into 
the  world :  again,  I  leave  the  world  and  go  to  the 
Father.  A  little  while,  and  ye  shall  not  see  me ;  and 
again  a  little  while,  and  ye  shall  see  me."  Such  was 
his  mode  of  teaching  the  distinction  of  Persons  in  the 
Godhead — the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity. 

The  apostles  were  slow  to  learn  these  truths  con- 
cerning the  divine  Persons  respectively,  and  their 
offices  and  relations.  They  expected  in  the  Messiah  a 
temporal  deliverer,  who  should  assume  the  government 
of  their  nation,  and  continue  personally  and  visibly 
among  them.  In  certain  respects  they  appear  not  to 
have  understood  his  character  till  after  his  ascension, 
nor  till  after  the  Spirit  had  enlightened  and  convinced 
them  that  the  Christ  who  had  been  crucified  was  in- 
deed the  Lord  of  glory,  Jehovah,  the  Elohe  of  Abra- 
ham, in  whom  Abraham  and  David  believed  unto  jus- 


260  THE   MESSIAH 

tification.  Being  at  length  fully  satisfied  of  this,  they 
testified  it  to  the  Jews  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  and 
subsequently,  with  overwhelming  effect;  for  the  people 
being  also  convinced  and  cut  to  the  heart,  cried,  Men 
and  brethren,  what  shall  we  do  ?  In  their  testimony  to 
this  end  they  declared  to  the  Jews  that  Jesus  whom 
they  had  crucified  was  both  the  Lord  (Jehovah)  and 
the  Christ;  and  quoted  David  as  saying  concerning 
him,  "I  foresaw  Jehovah  always  before  me." 

Subsequently  the  apostles,  more  fully  instructed  in 
"the  mystery  of  God,  and  of  the  Father,  and  of  the 
Christ"  Col.  ii.,  more  clearly  distinguished  the  Persons 
of  the  Trinity  in  all  that  concerned  their  relations  to 
the  work  of  redemption ;  though,  conformably  to  the 
Hebrew  usage,  they  often,  as  the  context  shows,  de- 
signated the  Mediator  under  the  name  of  God,  while 
they  also  by  that  name  referred  to  the  Father  and  to 
the  one  invisible  Deity.  Thus,  speaking  of  the  Christ, 
Paul  says,  "Who  is  over  all,  God  blessed  for  ever." 
Rom.  ix.  5.  Again:  "There  is  one  God,  and  one  Me- 
diator between  God  and  men,  the  man  Christ  Jesus." 
1  Tim.  ii.  5.  And,  treating  of  the  economy  of  grace, 
and  the  gifts  bestowed  on  the  Church  by  the  Redeemer, 
he  says:  "There  is  one  Spirit,  one  Lord,  one  God  and 
Father  of  all."  Eph.  iv.  4-6.  See  also  the  doxo- 
logics,  and  the  formulas  of  grace  and  peace  introduc- 
tory to  the  Epistles. 

These  observations  and  references  may,  perhaps, 
sufficiently  show  the  occasion  there  was  for  the  reiter- 
ated statements,  at  the  opening  of  the  New  Dispensa- 
tion, that  no  man  had  seen  the  Father,  and  that  he  was 
declared  and  made  known  only  by  the  Son.  The  Jews, 
to  whom  these  tilings  were  said,  were  familiar  with  the 
Scriptures   which   record   the   visible   appearances   of 


IN   MOSES   AND   THE   PROPHETS.  261 

Jehovah,  the  Elohe  of  Abraham.  The  first  thing,  as 
has  been  observed,  that  was  necessary,  on  his  appear- 
ance in  human  nature,  was  to  convince  those  Avho  had 
seen  and  heard  him  that  he  was  the  same  personally 
and  officially  as  He  who  appeared  to  and  conversed 
and  covenanted  with  the  patriarchs,  and  dwelt  with 
the  Church  in  the  wilderness  and  in  the  first  temple. 
He  was  accordingly  from  the  first,  by  inspired  di- 
rection, designated  by  names  of  the  same  import  as  the 
Jehovah  and  Immanuel  of  the  earlier  dispensation; 
and  he  himself  appealed  to  the  ancient  Scriptures,  as 
testifying  of  him.  The  apostles  referred  to  him  as 
the  Jehovah  of  the  Old  Testament ;  and  Stephen  says, 
that  Moses  "was  in  the  Church  in  the  wilderness,  with 
The  Messenger  who  spoke  to  him  in  mount  Sinai." 
Acts  vii. 

The  Shekina,  and  all  visible  Divine  appearances, 
having  long  been  discontinued,  the  Jews  seem  not  to 
have  expected  any  recurrence  of  the  like,  or  of  ana- 
logous interpositions.  Their  religion  consisted  in  a 
formal  observance  of  rites  and  traditions,  and  a  blind 
reliance  on  their  being  descendants  of  Abraham ;  and 
in  the  Messiah,  whom  they  desired  and  expected,  they 
looked  only  for  a  human  chieftain,  a  temporal  deliverer 
from  the  Roman  yoke.  Their  notions  of  the  Divine 
Being,  the  invisible  Deity,  do  not  appear  to  have  dif- 
fered essentially  from  those  common  to  their  descend- 
ants ever  since.  They  appear,  indeed,  to  have  dege- 
nerated so  far  from  the  ancients,  as  to  have  retained 
no  ideas  of  a  distinction  of  Persons  in  the  Godhead. 
When  they  spoke  of  God  as  their  Father,  they  had 
reference  only  to  the  invisible  Deity  as  their  Creator. 
They  were  alike  destitute  of  the  faith  of  Abraham  and 
of  all  correct  knowledge   of  Jehovah,    the   promised 


262         •  THE   MESSIAH 

Seed,  the  Messenger,  the  personal  Word.  The  com- 
mon people  were  as  sheep  without  a  shepherd,  and 
their  teachers  as  blind  leaders  of  the  blind.  "  We  all, 
says  Trypho,  expect  a  Messiah  to  be  born,  that  will  be 
man  of  man."     Brown's  Justin  Martyr,  section  49. 

Evidences  to  almost  any  extent  might  be  easily 
adduced  to  show  that  the  Jews  of  our  Saviour's  time 
had  generally,  as  a  people,  lost  or  perverted  by  their 
traditions  the  knowledge  which  their  ancient  pre- 
decessors possessed,  were  blind  to  the  meaning  of  their 
own  Scriptures,  and  were  plunged  in  gross  and  in- 
veterate errors. 

Their  errors  soon  began  to  be  widely  propagated  by 
Judaizing  teachers  of  Christianity,  and  by  Gentile  here- 
tics; and  with  respect  to  the  teachings  of  the  Old 
Testament  concerning  the  Creator,  the  Messiah,  me- 
diation, the  Unity,  Trinity,  and  other  subjects,  became  at 
an  early  period  extensively  prevalent.  The  Gnosticism 
which,  under  Cerinthus  and  others,  assailed  the  Jewish 
converts  in  the  apostles'  days,  and  was  propagated 
during  that  and  several  succeeding  ages,  under  many 
leaders,  and  with  various  modifications,  was  a  com- 
pound of  Oriental  philosophy  and  Judaizing  infidelity. 
To  that,  in  its  original  form,  succeeded,  in  the  second 
century,  the  modifications  of  the  Asiatic  and  Egyptian 
sects,  and  the  heresies  of  the  Monarchins,  or  Patri- 
passians ;  the  sects  of  Theodotus,  Artemon,  Hermo- 
genes  and  others ;  in  the  third,  the  Manichasans,  the 
Sabellians,  and  the  followers  of  Paul  of  Samosata; 
and  in  the  fourth,  the  Arians,  Semiarians,  Pelagians, 
and  others,  which,  with  an  occasional  change  of  name, 
have  come  down  to  the  present  day,  and  constitute,  in 
relation  to  the  leading  doctrines  and  object  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  one   comprehensive  heresy,  of  which  the 


IN   MOSES  AND   THE   PROPHETS.  263 

cardinal  feature  is  a  denial  or  derogation  of  what  be- 
longs to  the  official  Person,  character,  and  works  of  the 
Mediator.  In  the  controversies  to  which  those  heresies 
gave  occasion,  owing  to  the  nature  of  the  questions 
which  were  discussed,  the  character  and  objects  of  the 
parties  brought  into  conflict,  the  want  of  familiarity 
with  the  theology  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  on  the 
part  of  the  orthodox,  Gentile  controvertists ;  owing  to 
these  and  the  like  causes,  the  ascription,  common  in 
the  patriarchal,  Mosaic,  and  prophetic  history,  and 
in  the  first  period  of  Christianity,  of  all  the  works 
of  creation  and  providence  to  the  official  mediatorial 
Person,  was  gradually  discontinued,  and  at  length 
wholly  dropped,  even  by  those  who  believed  in  his 
divinity. 


264  THE   MESSIAH 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

Continuation  of  the  subject  of  the  foregoing  Chapter — Reference  to  the 
Heresies,  respecting  the  Creator,  of  the  three  first  and  ensuing  cen- 
turies. 

The  heresy  of  the  Gnostic  philosophers,  like  that 
of  the  geologists  of  the  present  day,  had  to  do  with 
the  question  of  a  creator  and  creation  as  its  starting 
theme.  "  They  boasted,"  says  Mosheim,  "  of  being 
able  to  restore  mankind  to  the  knowledge  of  the  true 
and  supreme  Being,  [i.  e.,  the  Deity,  as  superior  to  the 
evil  being,  regarded  by  them  as  creator,]  which  had 
been  lost  in  the  world,  and  foretold  the  approaching 
defeat  of  the  evil  principle,  i.  e.,  the  Devil,  to  whom 
they  attributed  the  creation  of  this  globe,"  Their  Uni- 
tarianism,  like  that  of  later  times,  could  tolerate  the  notion 
of  divine  creatures,  a  created  creator ;  but  they  could  not 
allow  that  such  a  world  as  this  was  or  could  have  been 
created  by  the  true  Supreme  Being. 

"  The  Gnostic  doctrine,"  adds  the  author  above 
quoted,  "  concerning  the  creation  of  the  world  by  one 
or  more  inferior  beings  of  an  evil,  or  at  least  an  im- 
perfect nature,  led  that  sect  to  deny  the  divine  au- 
thority of  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament,  whose  ac- 
counts of  the  origin  of  things  so  palpably  contradicted 
this  idle  fiction.  Through  a  frantic  aversion  to  those 
books,  they  lavished  their  encomiums  upon  the  Serjient, 
the  first  author  of  sin,  and  held  in  veneration  some 
of  the  most  impious  and  profligate  persons  of  whom 
mention  is  made  in  sacred  history." 


EN  MOSES  AND  THE   PROPHETS.  265 

Those  boasters  furnished  a  notable  example  for  all 
pretenders  to  philosophy  and  rationalism  in  religion, 
who  take  reason  for  their  guide,  and  deem  it  compe- 
tent to  determine  what  it  is  proper  for  the  Supreme 
Being  to  do ;  who  or  what  kind  of  being  it  is  most 
proper  should  be  the  creator  of  such  a  world  as  this ; 
at  what  time,  in  what  manner,  of  what  materials,  and 
for  what  ends  the  world  should  be  created ;  and  whether 
the  Mosaic  record  should  be  wholly  rejected,  or  only 
so  far  as  this  subject,  that  of  miracles,  inspiration,  the 
universality  of  the  Deluge,  the  doctrine  of  vicarious 
atonement,  and  a  few  others,  are  concerned. 

The  controlling  influence  to  which  the  heretics  and 
theorists  of  the  first  centuries  were  manifestly  subject, 
was  that  of  their  philosophy.  Assuming  that  their 
philosophical  dogmas  were  true  and  founded  in  the 
nature  of  things,  they  argued,  as  do  our  modern  geo- 
logists, from  their  assumptions,  that  the  Scriptures  must 
be  consistent  with  them;  and  since  they  were  not 
taught  in  Scripture,  nor  consistent  with  the  apparent 
import  of  the  language  of  Scripture,  they  found  it  ne- 
cessary to  imagine  an  occult,  allegorical,  tropical,  or 
spiritual  meaning,  couched  under  the  forms  of  the 
natural  language.  Thus  Origen  held  "that,  under 
cover  of  the  words,  phrases,  images,  and  narratives 
of  the  Scriptures,  the  Holy  Spirit  had  concealed  the 
internal  reasons  and  grounds  of  things;  that  in  the 
body  of  Holy  Writ  [so  he  denominates  the  proper  sense 
of  the  words]  there  was  a  soul,  [a  recondite  sense,]  and 
that  this  soul  exhibits,  to  careful  contemplators  of  it, 
as  it  were  in  a  mirror,  the  causes,  connections,  and 
dependences  of  both  human  and  Divine  wisdom." 
Murdock's  Commentaries  of  Mosheim,  II.  156,  165. 
He  took  up  u  the  ancient  doctrine  of  the  Pharisees  and 
12 


266  THE   MESSIAH 

Essenees,  that  of  a  double  sense  in  Holy  Scripture;" 
and  to  confirm  bis  philosophical  notions  by  the  author- 
ity of  the  sacred  oracles,  by  "bending  the  sense  of 
Scripture  to  suit  his  purpose,  eliminated  from  the 
Bible  whatever  was  repugnant  to  his  favorite  opinions." 
Ibid.  165. 

"  It  is  very  certain  that  the  Jews,  and  among  them 
the  Pharisees  especially,  and  Essenees,  before  the  birth 
of  our  Saviour,  believed  that  in  the  language  of  the 
Bible,  besides  the  sense  which  is  obvious  to  the  reader, 
there  is  another  more  remote  and  recondite,  concealed 
under  the  words  of  Scripture."  Murdock's  Commen- 
taries of  Mosheim,  II.  166. 

Mosheim's  account  of  the  doctrines  of  Cerinthus,  a 
Gnostic  Jew,  who,  about  the  close  of  the  first  century, 
appeared  as  the  leader  of  those  who  sought  to  merge 
Christianity  in  Judaism,  indicates  the  confusion  and 
uncertainty  which  then,  probably  to  a  great  extent, 
perplexed  the  minds  of  the  Jewish  and  Gentile  pro- 
selytes to  the  Christian  faith.  "  He  taught  that  the 
Creator  of  this  world,  whom  he  considered  also  as  the 
sovereign  and  lawgiver  of  the  Jewish  people,  was  a 
being  endowed  with  the  greatest  virtues,  and  derived 
his  birth  from  the  Supreme  God ;  [thus  conceding  that 
the  Jehovah  of  the  Old  Testament  was  the  same  as  the 
Christ ;]  that  this  being  fell,  by  degrees,  from  his  native 
virtue,  and  his  primitive  dignity  ;  [referring,  no  doubt, 
to  the  withdrawment  of  the  Messenger  Jehovah,  the 
Creator,  with  the  visible  Shekina,  from  the  temple,  and 
his  apparent  abandonment  of  the  Jewish  people,  as 
they  themselves  considered ;]  that  the  Supreme  God,  in 
consequence  of  this,  determined  to  destroy  his  empire, 
[meaning,  probably,  that  as  he  no  longer  appeared  as 
the  protector  of  the  Jews,  but  rather  as  their  enemy, 


IN  MOSES  AND  THE   PROPHETS.  267 

he  was  to  be  superseded,]  and  sent  upon  earth  for  this 
purpose  one  of  the  ever-happy  and  glorious  ceons, 
whose  name  was  Christ ;  that  this  Christ  chose  for  his 
habitation  [alluding  to  the  doctrine,  then  extensively 
prevalent,  of  the  metempsychosis,  or  transmigration 
of  one  being  into  another]  the  person  of  Jesus,  a  man 
of  the  most  illustrious  sanctity  and  justice,  the  son  of 
Joseph  and  Mary,  and  descending  in  the  form  of  a 
dove,  entered  into  him  while  he  was  receiving  the  bap- 
tism of  John  in  the  waters  of  Jordan ;  that  Jesus,  after 
his  union  with  Christ,  opposed  himself  with  vigor  to 
the  God  of  the  Jews,  [i.  e.,  He  whom  the  Jews  originally 
worshipped  as  their  Creator  and  Lawgiver,  the  Angel 
Jehovah,  now  fallen,]  and  was,  by  his  instigation, 
seized  and  crucified  by  the  Hebrew  chiefs  ;  that  when 
Jesus  was  taken  captive,  [i.  e.,  by  the  instigation  of 
Jehovah  the  Creator,]  Christ  ascended  up  on  high,  so 
that  the  man  Jesus  alone  was  subjected  to  the  pains 
of  an  ignominious  death.  Cerinthus  required  of  his 
followers  that  they  should  Worship  the  Father  of  Christ, 
even  the  Supreme  God,  in  conjunction  with  the  Son; 
[i.  e.,  the  ozon  whom  he  calls  Christ ;]  that  they  should 
abandon  the  Lawgiver  of  the  Jews,  whom  he  [from  his 
knowledge  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  or  of  the  Chaldee 
paraphrases]  looked  upon  as  the  Creator  of  the  world ; 
that  they  should  retain  a  part  of  the  law  given  by 
Moses,  but  should,  nevertheless,  employ  their  principal 
attention  and  care  to  regulate  their  lives  by  the  pre- 
cepts of  Christ,"  [i.  e.,  the  glorious  ceon.]  To  en- 
courage them  to  this,  "he  promised  the  resurrection 
of  the  body ; "  [i.  e.,  though  he  denied  the  death,  and 
therefore  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  he  held  to  that 
of  man  at  the  second  coming;]  and  held  "that  Christ 
will   one   day  return  upon  earth,    and,  renewing   his 


268  THE   MESSIAH 

former  union  with  the  man  Jesus,  [i.  e.,  by  then  raising 
him  from  the  dead,]  will  reign  with  his  people  in  the 
land  of  Palestine  during  a  thousand  years."  Cent.  I. 
part  2,  chap.  5,  sec.  16.  There  can  be  no  mistake  as  to 
the  source  of  what  is  correct  in  this  creed,  nor  as  to  the 
state  of  mind  in  which  its  stupendous  errors  were  con- 
ceived and  propagated. 

Marcion,  Basilides,  and  others  among  the  Gnostic 
leaders  of  the  Asiatic  and  Egyptian  sects  in  the  second 
century,  held,  in  respect  to  a  creator  and  creation, 
sentiments  very  similar  to  those  of  Cerinthus.  The 
Valentinians,  a  very  numerous  sect,  were  taught  by 
Valentine  their  chief,  as  is  recorded  in  Mosheim,  "That 
the  Creator  of  this  world,"  whom,  in  common  with  most 
of  the  heretics  of  that  period,  he  took  to  be  a  creature, 
"came  by  degrees  to  imagine  himself  to  be  God  alone,  or,  at 
least,  to  desire  that  mankind  should  consider  him  as 
such."  He  therefore  "  sent  forth  prophets  to  the  Jew- 
ish nation,  to  declare  his  claim  to  the  honor  that  is 
due  to  the  Supreme  Being."  The  Patripassians  asserted 
the  unity  of  God  in  such  a  manner  as  to  exclude  all 
distinction  of  Persons  ;  and  in  this  respect  they  were 
imitated  by  the  Sabellians  of  the  ensuing  century. 

The  leading  features  of  nearly  all  the  heresies  of  the 
first  three  centuries,  especially  those  which  were  widely 
diffused  and  long  perpetuated,  whether  invented  by 
minds  imbued  by  the  Oriental  philosophy  or  with 
hereditary  Jewish  opinions  and  prejudices  related  to 
the  Creator  and  the  works  of  creation.  The  best  of 
them  were  in  that  particular,  for  substance,  like  the 
heresy  of  Arius  in  the  fourth  century,  who  taught 
"  that  the  Son  was  the  first  and  noblest  of  these  beings, 
whom  God  the  Father  had  created  out  of  nothing,  and 
was  the  instrument   by  whose   subordinate   operation 


EN"   MOSES  AND  THE   PEOPHETS.  269 

the  universe  was  made."  The  Council  of  Nice,  con- 
vened in  325  to  suppress  this  heresy,  appears  scarcely 
to  have  checked  its  progress ;  and  during  the  pro- 
tracted discussions  and  contests  which  ensued,  and 
which  agitated  both  the  eastern  and  western  divisions 
of  the  Church,  there  is  probably  no  single  instance  of  a 
simple  scriptural  statement  respecting  the  Trinity,  and 
the  Person  and  work  of  the  Mediator,  except  in  the  case 
of  such  as  dissented  and  seceded  from  the  Established 
Church,  and  were  persecuted  by  all  parties  in  that 
Church.  The  attention  of  those  whom  the  Councils 
called  orthodox,  in  distinctio'n  from  heretics,  was  ab- 
sorbed by  attempts  to  explain  the  inexplicable  questions 
in  controversy.  They*  sought  in  this  way  to  answer 
and  confound  their  opponents.  The  heretics  no  where 
in  these  controversies  bring  into  view  any  thing  scrip- 
tural, any  thing  better  than  Paganism,  with  respect  to  a 
Mediator ;  nor  could  they,  consistently  with  the  nature 
of  the  dogmas  and  opinions  which  they  contended  for. 

The  disciples  of  the  reformed  Magianism  of  Zoro- 
aster ascribed  the  creation  to  the  one  supreme,  in- 
visible Deity,  who  was  to  be  worshipped  directly,  not 
through  images,  nor  through  a  Mediator,  nor  any  inter- 
mediate agencies. 

The  Gentile  Gnostics,  in  distinction  from  Cerinthus- 
and  other  Judaizers,  in  their  attempts  to  subordinate 
Christianity  to  their  system — which  taught  that  all  evil 
resided  in  and  proceeded  from  matter,  and  therefore 
that  the  world  could  not  have  been  created  by  a  good 
being — ascribed  t]$e  creation  to  a  created  evil  being, 
the  evil  principle,  Satan.  They  therefore  rejected  the 
Old  Testament  as  irreconcilable  with  this  system. 
Prior  to  the  Advent,  they  worshipped  Satan  as  creal  or, 
and  as  having;  chief  control  in  the  whole  course  of 


270  THE   MESSIAH 

things  in  the  world,  and  being  an  over-match  for  the 
antagonist,  good  principle:  and  honoring  him  in  this 
way,  they  held  Cain,  and  his  other  most  conspicuous 
followers  and  supporters,  in  the  highest  veneration. 
Yearning  for  some  relief  from  the  unmitigated  and 
intolerable  miseries  which  they  suffered  in  their  warfare 
with  their  bodies,  which,  as  matter,  they  deemed  the 
seat  of  corruption,  they  hailed  the  appearance  of  the 
good  principle  in  Christianity,  supported  as  it  was  by 
demonstrations  of  resistless  power,  as  likely  to  defeat 
the  antagonist  evil  principle,  the  Devil,  to  whom  they 
still  ascribed  the  creation  of  the  world.  Instead  of 
longer  worshipping  him,  therefore,  they  now  taught 
that  the  Supreme  Deity,  the  Creator  of  the  Devil,  ivas  to  be 
worshipped.  This  teas  the  doctrine  which  undoubtedly  had 
been  lost  to  all  idolaters,  and  which  they  now  promised  to 
restore. 

Cerinthus,  in  his  attempts  to  combine  Gnosticism 
and  Christianity  with  Judaism  and  the  Hebrew  Scrip- 
tures, as  he  understood  them,  maintains,  not  that  the 
world  was  created  by  the  supreme,  invisible  Deity,  for 
he  did  not  so  understand  those  writings,  but  that  the 
Being  to  whom  Moses  ascribes  the  creation  and  govern- 
ment of  the  world  (and  whom  he  calls  Jehovah)  was 
a  derived,  begotten,  created  being,  and  therefore  liable 
to  degenerate;  that  though  originally  endowed  with 
the  greatest  virtues,  he  fell ;  (he  had  forsaken  the  Jews, 
and  they  had  renounced  him ;)  that  his  Creator,  the  Su- 
preme Deity,  nad  therefore  determined  to  destroy  his 
empire,  (the  dominion  and  rule  wiiich  he  exercised, 
prior  to  his  quitting  the  temple,  and  also  after  becom- 
ing, in  their  opinion,  the  enemy  of  the  Jews ;)  that  the 
Christ,  so  far  from  being  the  same  person,  Son  of  the 
Supreme   Deity,  and  Creator,  was  a  wholly  different 


EST  MOSES  AND  THE   PROPHETS.  271 

being  in  all  respects,  a  created  being,  sent  expressly  to 
supersede  and  destroy  the  Creator  and  Jewish  lawgiver ; 
that,  taking  possession  of  the  person  of  Jesus,  he  set 
himself  vigorously  to  oppose  Jehovah  the  Creator,  who, 
in  self-defense,  contrived  to  induce  the  Jews  to  crucify 
the  man  Jesus,  the  Christ  in  the  mean  time  having  for- 
saken him.  Accordingly,  he  taught  his  followers  that 
they  "should  abandon  the  Lawgiver  of  the  Jews,  whom 
he  looked  ujoon  as  the  Creator  of  the  world,"  i.  e.,  the 
Jehovah  of  the  Old  Testament;  and  that  they  should 
worship  the  Supreme  Deity  as  the  Father  of  the  iEon 
whom  he  called  Christ,  in  conjunction  with  that  Christ, 
or  iEon,  assuming  him  to  be  the  same  with  him  whom 
the  Christians  called  the  Christ  and  the  Son ;  conform- 
ably to  his  notion  that  Christ,  having  entered  the  man 
Jesus  at  his  baptism,  withdrew  from  him  before  his 
death.  He  denied  his  resurrection,  and  was,  very  prob- 
ably, a  disciple  of  the  false  teacher  referred  to  and 
refuted  in  Paul's  argument,  1  Cor.  xv. 

To  show  that  the  Oriental  philosophy,  which  com- 
prehended the  leading  principles  of  the  false,  in  op- 
position to  the  revealed  system  of  religion,  and  that 
the  early  heresies,  which,  being  founded  on  the  Oriental 
philosophy,  passed  under  the  imposing  title  of  Gnosti- 
cism, ascribed  the  creation  and  government  of  the 
world  to  Satan,  the  following  quotations  are  made  from 
Mosheim's  Commentaries,  Cent.  I.,  sec.  60,  61 : 

"By  none  of  its  adversaries  or  corrupters  was  Christi- 
anity, from  its  first  rise,  more  seriously  injured;  by 
none  was  the  Church  more  grievously  lacerated,  and 
rendered  less  attractive  to  the  people,  than  by  those 
who  were  for  making  the  religion  of  Christ  accommo- 
date itself  to  the  principles  of  the  Oriental  philosophy 
respecting  the  Deity,  the  origin  of  the  world,  the  na- 


272  THE  MESSIAH 

ture  of  matter  and  the  human  soul.  "We  allude  to 
those  who,  from  their  pretending  that  they  were  able 
to  communicate  to  mankind,  at  present  held  in  bond- 
age by  the  Architect  of  the  world,  a  correct  knowledge 
(gnosis)  of  the  true  and  ever-living  God,  were  commonly 
styled  Gnostics.  Intoxicated  with  a  fondness  for  these 
opinions,  not  a  few  of  the  Christians  were  induced  to 
secede  from  all  association  with  the  advocates  for  the 
sound  doctrine,  and  to  form  themselves  into  various 
sects,  which,  as  time  advanced,  became  daily  more 
extensive  and  numerous,  and  were  for  several  ages 
productive  of  very  serious  inconveniences  and  evils 
to  the  Christian  commonwealth  ...  It  is  by  no  means 
difficult  to  point  out  the  way  in  which  these  people 
contrived  to  make  the  religion  of  Christ  appear  to  be 
altogether  in  unison  with  their  favorite  system  of  disci- 
pline. All  the  philosophers  of  the  East,  whose  tenets, 
as  we  have  seen,  were,  that  the  Deity  had  nothing  at 
all  to  do  with  matter,  the  nature  and  qualities  of  which 
they  considered  to  be  malignant  and  poisonous;  that 
the  body  was  held  in  subjection  by  a  being  entirely 
distinct  from  Him  to  whom  the  dominion  over  the  ra- 
tional soul  belonged ;  that  the  world,  and  all  terrestrial 
bodies,  were  not  the  work  of  the  Supreme  Being,  the 
Author  of  all  good,  but  were  formed  out  of  matter  by  a 
nature  either  evil  in  its  origin,  or  that  had  fallen  into 
a  state  of  depravity ;  and  lastly,  that  the  knowledge  of 
the  true  Deity  had  become  extinct,  and  that  the  whole 
race  of  mankind,  instead  of  worshipping  the  Father 
of  Light  and  Life,  and  source  of  every  thing  good, 
universally  paid  tlieir  homage  to  the  Founder  and 
Prince  of  this  nether  world,  or  to  his  substitutes  and 
agents:  I  say  all  these  looked  forward  with  earnest 
expectation  for  the   arrival  of   an  extraordinary  and 


IN  MOSES  AND  THE   PROPHETS.  273 

eminently  powerful  Messenger  of  the  Most  High,  who, 
they  imagined,  would  deliver  the  captive  souls  of  men 
from  the  pondage  of  the  flesh,  and  rescue  them  from 
the  dominion  of  those  genii  by  whom  they  supposed 
the  world  and  all  matter  to  be  governed ;  at  the  same 
time  communicating  to  them  a  correct  knowledge  of 
their  everlasting  Parent,  so  as  to  enable  them,  upon  the 
dissolution  of  the  body,  once  more  to  regain  their  long- 
lost  liberty  and  happiness.  An  expectation  of  this 
kind  even  continues  to  be  cherished  by  their  descend- 
ants of  the  present  day.  Some  of  these  philosophers, 
then,  being  struck  with  astonishment  at  the  magnitude 
and  splendor  of  the  miracles  wrought  by  Christ  and 
his  apostles,  and  perceiving  that  it  was  the  object  of 
our  Lord's  ministry  both  to  abrogate  the  Jewish  law — 
a  law  which  they  conceived  to  have  been  promulgated 
by  the  Architect  or  Founder  of  the  world  himself,  or 
by  the  chief  of  his  agents — and  also  to  overthrow  those 
gods  of  the  nations  whom  they  regarded  as  genii,  placed 
over  mankind  by  the  same  evil  spirit;  hearing  him, 
moreover,  invite  the  whole  world  to  join  in  the  worship 
of  the  one  Omnipotent  and  only  true  God,  and  profess 
that  he  came  down  from  heaven  for  the  purpose  of  re- 
deeming the  souls  of  men,  and  restoring  them  to  liberty, 
were  induced  to  believe  that  he  was  that  very  Mes- 
senger for  whom  they  looked,  the  Person  ordained  by 
the  Everlasting  Father,  to  destroy  the  dominion  of  the 
founder  of  this  world  as  well  as  of  the  genii  who  pre- 
sided over  it;  to  separate  light  from  darkness,  and  to 
deliver  the  souls  of  men  from  that  bondage  to  which 
they  were  subjected,  in  consequence  of  their  connection 
with  material  bodies.  To  various  articles  propounded 
in  the  Christian  code  as  essential  points  of  belief,  they 
utterly  refused  their  assent:  such,  for  instance,  as  that 
12* 


274  •  THE   MESSIAH 

which,  attributes  the  creation  of  the  world  to  the  Su- 
preme Being,  and  those  respecting  the  divine  origin 
of  the  Mosaic  law,  the  authority  of  the  Old  Testament, 
the  character  of  human  nature,  and  the  like :  for  it 
would  have  amounted  to  nothing  short  of  an  absolute 
surrender  of  the  leading  maxims  of  the  system  to 
which  they  were  devoted,  had  they  not  persisted  in 
maintaining  that  the  creator  of  this  world  was  a  being 
of  a  nature  vastly  inferior  to  the  Supreme  Deity,  the 
Father  of  our  Lord,  and  that  the  law  of  Moses  was  not 
dictated  by  the  Almighty,  but  by  this  same  inferior 
being,  by  whom  also  the  bodies  of  men  were  formed 
and  united  to  souls  of  ethereal  mould,  and  under  whose 
influence  the  various  penmen  of  the  Old  Testament 
composed  whatever  they  have  left  us  on  record."  Again, 
"according  to  the  Gnostic  scheme,  an  absolute  and  en- 
tire dominion  over  the  human  race,  and  the  globe  we 
inhabit,  is  exercised  by  the  founder  of  the  material 
world,  a  being  of  unbounded  pride  and  ambition,  who 
makes  use  of  every  means  in  his  power  to  prevent 
mankind  from  attaining  to  any  knowledge  of  the  true 
God." 

It  is  too  plain  to  require  a  comment,  that  the  fallen 
creature  to  whom,  in  this  religious  s}Tstem,  the  creation 
of  the  world  is  ascribed,  and  to  whom  the  nations 
universally  paid  their  homage,  was  Satan;  and  that 
the  genii,  his  subordinates,  were  the  angels  who  fell 
with  him.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Divine  Messenger 
expected  as  the  antagonist  and  conqueror  of  Satan, 
could  be  no  other  than  the  Messenger  Jehovah,  ap- 
pointed and  sent  by  the  Everlasting  Father. 

Mosheim,  in  his  Commentaries,  Introduction,  chap. 
2,  observes,  that  the  Jewish  religion,  at  the  time  of  our 
Saviour's  appearance,  "was  contaminated  by  errors  of 


IN  MOSES  AND   THE   PROPHETS.  275 

the  most  flagrant  kind;  even  in  the  service  of  the 
temple  itself,  numerous  ceremonies  and  observances, 
drawn  from  the  religious  worship  of  heathen  nations, 
had  been  introduced  and  blended  with  those  of  Divine 
institution ;  and  in  addition  to  superstitions  like  these 
of  a  public  nature,  many  erroneous  principles,  probably 
either  brought  from  Babylon  and  Chaldea  by  the  an- 
cestors of  the  people  at  their  return  from  captivity,  or 
adopted  by  the  thoughtless  multitude  in  conformity  to 
the  example  of  their  neighbors  the  Greeks,  the  Syrians, 
and  the  Egyptians,  were  cherished  and  acted  upon  in 
private." 

Again,  "To  the  prince  of  darkness,  with  his  associ- 
ates and  agents,  they  attributed  an  influence  over  the 
world  and  mankind  of  the  most  extensive  nature ;  so 
predominant,  indeed,  as  scarcely  to  leave  a  superior 
degree  of  power  even  with  the  Deity  himself." 

"At  the  time  of  Christ's  appearance,  many  of  the 
Jews  had  imbibed  the  principles  of  the  Oriental  phi- 
losophy respecting  the  origin  of  the  world,  and  were 
much  addicted  to  the  study  of  a  recondite  sort  of  learn- 
ing derived  from  thence,  to  which  they  gave  the  name 
of  Cabbala.  The  founders  of  several  of  the  Gnostic 
sects,  all  of  whom,  we  know,  were  studious  to  make 
the  Christian  religion  accommodate  itself  to  the  princi- 
ples of  the  ancient  Oriental  philosophy,  had  been  origin- 
ally Jews,  and  exhibited  in  their  tenets  a  strange  mix- 
ture of  the  doctrines  of  Moses,  Christ,  and  Zoroaster. 
This  is  of  itself  sufficient  to  prove  that  many  of  the 
Jews  were  in  no  small  degree  attached  to  the  opinions 
of  the  ancient  Persians  and  Chaldeans.  Such  of  them 
as  had  adopted  these  irrational  principles  would  not 
admit  that  the  world  was  created  by  God,  but  sub- 
stituted, in  the   place  of  the  Deity,  a  celestial  genius 


276  THE   MESSIAH 

endowed  with  vast  powers;  from  whom,  also,  they 
maintained  that  Moses  had  his  commission,  and  the 
Jewish  law  its  origin.  To  the  coming  of  the  Messiah, 
or  deliverer,  promised  by  God  to  their  fathers,  they 
looked  forward  with  hope,  expecting  that  he  would 
put  an  end  to  the  dominion  of  the  being  whom  they 
thus  regarded  as  the  maker  and  ruler  of  the  world." 
Mosheim,  Int.,  Com.,  chap.  2. 

It  would  be  alike  tedious  and  useless  much  further  to 
multiply  citations  from  the  history  of  Gnostic  and  other 
Oriental  writers,  to  show  that  the  nations  represented 
by  those  writers  regarded  Satan  as  the  creator  of  the 
world  and  god  of  their  idolatry. 

"  Beyond  that  vast  expanse,  refulgent  with  everlast- 
ing light,  which  was  considered  as  the  immediate  habi- 
tation of  the  Deity  and  those  natures  which  had  been 
generated  from  him,  these  philosophers  placed  the  seat 
of  matter,  where,  according  to  them,  it  had  lain  from  all 
eternity,  a  rude,  undigested,  opaque  mass,  agitated  by 
turbulent,  irregular  motions  of  its  own  provoking,  and 
nurturing,  as  in  a  seed-bed,  the  rudiments  of  A?ice  and 
every  species  of  evil.  In  this  state  it  was  found  by  a 
genius  or  celestial  spirit  of  the  higher  order,  who  had 
been  either  driven  from  the  abode  of  the  Deity  for  some 
offense,  or  commissioned  by  him  for  the  purpose,  and 
who  reduced  it  into  order,  and  gave  it  that  arrangement  and 
fashion  which  the  universe  noiv  wears.  Those  who  spoke 
the  Greek  tongue  were  accustomed  to  refer  to  this 
creator  of  the  world  by  the  name  of  Derniurgus.  Matter 
received  its  inhabitants,  both  men  and  other  animals, 
from  the  same  hand  that  had  given  to  it  disposition  and 
symmetry.  .  .  .  When  all  things  were  thus  completed, 
Derniurgus,  revolting  against  the  great  First  Cause  of 
every  thing,  the  all- wise  and  omnipotent  God,  assumed  to 


IN   MOSES  AND  THE   PROPHETS.  277 

himself  the  exclusive  government  of  this  new  state,  which,  he 
apportioned  out  into  provinces  or  districts ;  bestowing 
the  administration  and  command  over  them  on  a  num- 
ber of  genii  or  spirits  of  inferior  degree,  who  had  been 
his  associates  and  assistants."  Mosheim,  Intro.,  sec.  34. 
"In  the  following  respects,  they  [the  Gnostic  sects] 
appear  to  have  been  all  of  one  mind ;  namely,  that  i  n 
addition  to  the  Deity,  matter,  the  root  and  cause  of 
every  thing  evil  and  depraved,  had  existed  from  all 
eternity  ;  that  this  corrupt  matter  had  not  been  reduced 
into  order  by  the  Supreme  and  all-benevolent  Deity, 
but  by  a  nature  of  a  far  inferior  rank ;  that  the  founder 
of  the  world,  therefore,  and  the  Deit}^  were  beings  be- 
tween whom  no  sort  of  relationship  whatever  existed." 
Ibid.,  1.,  sec.  65. 

These  representations  of  the  sentiments  of  the  Orientals 
may  suffice  to  show  that  the  Arch-apostate  claimed  to 
be  the  creator  and  prince  of  this  world,  and  led  his 
followers  to  adopt  that  usurped  and  impious  claim  as  a 
primary  article  of  their  faith,  and  to  worship  and  serve 
him  accordingly.  Nor  does  it  otherwise  seem  possible 
to  account  for  the  origin  and  adoption,  at  a  very  early 
period,  of  the  doctrine  of  two  antagonist  principles 
or  powers,  one  as  the  creator  of  the  world  and  author 
of  all  evil,  the  other  as  an  ineffectually  counteracting 
agent  of  good. 

Divested  of  Eastern  figure,  and  of  bias  from  Western 
notions  of  mythology  and  polytheism,  the  Oriental  doc- 
trine plainly  exhibits  Satan  as  the  creator  and  ruler  of 
this  world,  and,  on  that  .ground,  as  exacting  the  homage 
of  its  population.  This  primary  arrogation  on  his  part 
is  the  ground  of  all  idolatry,  and  of  the  great  heresies 
of  Gnostic  and  Popish  origin.  Accordingly,  the  great 
antagonism  which,  since  the  fall,  has  been  in  progress 


278  THE   MESSIAH 

in  tbe  view  of  the  whole  universe,  and  of  which  the 
termination  is  to  fill  the  hosts  of  heaven  with  adoring 
and  rapturous  ecstacy,  and  the  ransomed  Church  with 
ceaseless  exultation  and  praise,  exhibits  the  great  Ad- 
versary as  chief  of  a  rebel  faction  of  his  own  species, 
instigating  the  original  revolt,  and  ruling  as  his  vassals 
the  race  of  man,  arrogating  the  titles  and  prerogatives 
of  the  Creator  and  Sovereign  of  the  world,  and  persist- 
ing in  his  rebellion,  usurpation,  and  rivalship,  till  finally 
vanquished  and  imprisoned,  his  purposes  defeated,  and 
his  works  destroyed ;  and  at  length  displays,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  majesty  and  power,  the  titles,  prerogatives, 
and  rights,  the  supremacy,  rectitude  and  glory  of  the 
self-existent  Creator,  Proprietor  and  rightful  Sovereign, 
effectually  reasserted,  vindicated,  and  universally  ac- 
knowledged. 

In  these  earliest  and  most  prevalent  systems  of 
heresy  are  contained  the  perversions  and  false  doc- 
trines against  which  the  contemporaries  and  the  im- 
mediate and  later  orthodox  successors  of  the  apostles 
were  called  to  contend;  and  they  present  in  bold  re- 
lief the  points  brought  into  controversy,  as  they  are 
indicated  in  the  creeds  and  decrees  of  Councils  specially 
convened  to  condemn  and  suppress  them. 

To  meet  the  doctrine  advanced  by  the  earliest  and 
adopted  by  the  later  heretics,  that  the  creation  and 
government  of  the  world  was  the  work  of  a  creature, 
supposed  by  some  to  be  the  Evil  One;  by  others,  a 
being  originally  good,  but  afterwards  degenerate ;  by 
some,  to  be  one  of  two  rival  creatures ;  by  others,  to 
have  derived  his  birth  from'  the  Supreme  God ;  they, 
rejecting  with  abhorrence  such  ideas  of  the  Creator, 
and  all  the  notions  associated  with  them,  and  impelled 
by  their  philosophy,  as  well  as  by  their  knowledge  and 


IN   MOSES  AND  THE   PROPHETS.  279 

regard  for  the  Scriptures,  to  assert  in  trie  plainest  man- 
ner that  the  Creator  of  all  things  is  himself  uncreated — 
God,  in  distinction  from  creatures — planted  themselves 
upon  that  as  an  impregnable  position. 

But  they  had  at  the  same  time  to  maintain  the  doc- 
trines of  the  Trinity  and  the  Divinity  of  Christ.  They 
were  to  assert  the  Deity  of  Christ,  whom  the  heretics 
held  to  be  a  creature,  and  yet  ascribed  to  him  the  works 
of  creation.  It  is  at  least  natural  to  suppose  that,  to 
avoid  giving  the  heretics  any  advantage  in  popular 
argument,  and  to  use  expressions  importing  the  broad- 
est contrast  to  theirs,  they  at  first  ascribed  the  creation  to 
God,  without  any  reference  to  the  distinction  of  Persons 
in  the  Godhead;  or,  to  maintain  that  doctrine  at  the 
same  time,  and  to  meet  the  point  in  question*as  to  the 
Deity  of  the  Creator,  they  ascribed  the  works  of  crea- 
tion and  providence  to  God  the  Father.  Whatever 
may  have  been  the  process,  this  was  the  result.  It  is 
not  unlikely  that,  at  the  date  of  the  Apostles'  and  the 
jSTicene  Creeds,  there  were  many  who  at  length  joined  in 
adopting  them,  who  from  ignorance,  or  from  the  sway 
of  heretical  influences,  were  greatly  confused  upon 
these  subjects ;  many,  more  or  less  perverted  by  Gnostic 
and  Judaizing  dogmas.;  many  who  saw  no  possibility 
of  maintaining  the  doctrines  which  they  held  concern- 
ing the  Father,  as  the  Father  of  Christ  the  Son  by 
eternal  generation,  and  as  the  fountain  of  all  authority 
and  power,  without  specifically  ascribing  to  him  the 
works  of  creation  and  providence ;  many  who,  relying 
on  the  doctrine  of  the  eternal  generation  of  the  Son,  as 
the  most  conclusive  and  unanswerable  proof  of  his 
Divinity,  confined  their  attention  to  that,  and  saw  no 
possibility  of  meeting  and  counteracting  the  dogmas  of 


280  THE  MESSIAH 

Cerinthus,  or  of  other  heretics,  if  they  ascribed  the 
creation  to  the  Son. 

It  must  be  considered  that  the  terms  which  they  em- 
ployed were  adopted  expressly  to  meet  the  growing  and 
fatal  errors  which  infested  the  Church ;  and  that  they 
had,  at  the  date  of  the  Nicene  Creed,  a  most  powerful 
motive  to  concession  and  accommodation  for  the  sake 
of  unity,  in  the  notion  already  prevalent  concerning 
schism — defection  from  the  faith  of  the  dominant  or 
Catholic  Church,  or  separation  from  that  body  on  that 
account — as  a  mortal  sin. 

It  was  pointedly  to  their  purpose  to  maintain,  in  op- 
position to  Cerinthus,  that  the  Christ  was  the  Son  of 
God,  and  the  only  being  designated  by  that  title ;  and 
equally  to  their  purpose,  in  opposition  to  Arius,  to  main- 
tain that  he  was  not  created.  They  were  to  meet  these 
points  somehow,  or  accomplish  nothing  against  the 
most  formidable  heresies.  They  hit  upon  a  phraseology 
which,  if  it  be  not  wholly  unintelligible  to  mortals,  was 
probably  then  deemed  to  be  unanswerable,  in  the  asser- 
tion that  he  was  the  Son  by  eternal  generation  ;  begotten, 
not  made,  &c. 

The  language  of  the  creeds,  hereafter  more  particularly 
referred  to,  is  presumed  to  have  become  gradually  fa- 
miliar to  the  opposers  of  heresy  before  it  was  embodied 
in  those  formularies.  They  express  in  a  condensed  form 
the  sentiments  and  terms  by  which  the  leading  contro- 
vertists  repelled  the  dominant  heresies  of  the  time. 

It  is  worthy  of  a  passing  notice,  that  from  the  origin 
of  the  Assyrian  empire  down  to  the  Christian  era,  the 
sway,  over  the  whole  Pagan  world,  of  the  Oriental 
doctrines,  embodied  in  the  Sabian,  Magian,  Brahmini- 
cal,    Lamaist,    Boodhist,    and  other   sj-stems,  laid   the 


IN   MOSES  AND   THE   PROPHETS.  281 

foundation  and  prepared  the  way  for  the  rise  and  spread 
of  the  Mohammedan  imposture,  after  those  doctrines  had, 
by  the  propagation  of  Christianity,  been  in  some  degree 
intercepted  and  modified  within,  and  in  some  directions 
beyond,  the  limits  of  the  Roman  empire.  The  theory  of 
the  system  of  Mohammed,  like  that  ascribed  to  Zoroaster, 
which  aimed  to  unite  the  Sabians,  who  worshipped 
images,  and  the  Magians,  who  refused  them,  with  the 
Jews  of  Babylon  and  its  provinces  after  they  had  re- 
nounced idolatry  and  the  doctrine  of  mediation,  in- 
rolved  a  union  of  the  same  school  of  Jews  in  the 
seventh  century,  with  the  nominal  but  already  apostate 
churches  (churches  characterized  by  Gnostic  heresies 
and  Pagan  corruptions)  of  Babylonia,  Syria,  Asia  Minor, 
Egypt,  Northern  Africa,  Spain,  &c. 

Hence  the  first  and,  with  respect  to  the  Divine  Being, 
the  only  article  of  the  Mohammedan  faith  is  that  of 
the  Unity.  For  this,  the  Jews,  the  judaizing  professors 
of  Christianity,  the  Cerinthians,  Arians,  &c,  were  pre- 
pared; and  in  like  manner  for  the  exclusion  of  the 
doctrine  of  mediation  and  the  consequent  proscription 
of  images  and  sacrificial  offerings. 

Who  that  considers  the  character  and  mission  of 
Mohammed,  as  depicted  Rev.  ix.  1-12,  and  illustrated  by 
the  histories  of  his  time,  can  fail  to  regard  him  as,  in  the 
hands  of  the  great  Adversary,  one  of  the  most  extraordi- 
nary visible  agents  of  his  antagonism.  With  no  pre- 
liminary indications,  like  a  meteor  fallen  to  the  earth, 
he  suddenly  appears  on  the  scene.  He  receives  the 
key  and  opens  the  abyss  of  darkness.  The  blinding 
smoke  of  the  pit  ascends,  and  generates  a  locust  army 
with  the  power  of  scorpions,  led  on  by  Satan  as  their 
king,  "whose  name  in  Hebrew  is  Abaddon,  and  in 
Greek,  the  Destroyer."     As  visible  bead  of  the  apostate 


282  THE   MESSIAH 

faction,  he  subdues,  and  with  enduring  chains  of  mental 
darkness  manacles  and  holds  fast  the  Eastern  empire  : 
while,  in  the  Western,  essentially  the  like  results,  under 
the  same  leadership,  are  accomplished  by  the  head  of 
the  Papal  hierarchy. 

These  great  systems  of  influence  and  control,  by 
which,  in  the  Eastern  world,  the  Arch-deceiver  held  the 
human  mind  in  bondage,  required  and  depended  on 
implicit,  unquestioning  faith.  Thus,  throughout  the 
Roman  empire  prior  to  the  Advent,  and  subsequently 
in  the  eastern  division,  under  the  Mohammedan,  and  in 
the  western,  under  the  Popish  faith. 

The  shock  of  the  Reformation  awaked  and  roused 
up  the  mind  of  western  Europe,  and  brought  new  an- 
tagonist influences  into  operation,  which,  by  recalling 
attention  to  the  Scriptures  as  the  only  rule  of  faith,  by 
giving  prominence  to  the  cardinal  doctrines  of  redemp- 
tion, and  by  a  revival  of  learning,  threatened  wholly  to 
subvert  the  dominion  of  Popish  superstition  and  impos- 
ture. 

This  aspect  of  his  affairs  required  a  new  course  of 
tactics  on  the  part  of  the  great  Adversary,  by  which  the 
tendencies,  intellectual,  speculative,  philosophical,  scien- 
tific, which  were  rising  and  spreading,  might  be  so 
perverted  as  to  counteract  the  objects  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, and,  in  place  of  the  former  outward  and  vulgar 
superstition,  to  give  sway  to  infidelity ;  a  course  of 
tactics  adapted  to  the  intellects  of  men,  stimulated  to 
inquiry  and  earnest  in  the  pursuit  of  knowledge ;  a 
course  by  which  the  peculiar  doctrines  of  the  Scriptures 
and  of  the  Reformation,  and  the  reality  of  inspiration 
and  of  miracles,  might  be  explained  away,  and  by 
which,  in  effect,  the  arrogations  of  the  Arch-deceiver 
and  the  Pope,  of  lordship  over  men's  minds,  and  over 


IN   MOSES  AND   THE   PROPHETS.  283 

the  province  of  theological  dogma,  together  with  an 
ascendency  of  influence  in  the  seats  of  intellectual  and 
physical  science,  might  be  imputed  and  transferred  to 
Human  Reason. 

Reason,  thus  deified  and  installed  as  in  a  pontifical 
chair,  'progressively  developed  its  hierarchs  and  suffra- 
gans in  the  seats  of  learning,  secular  and  sacred,  in 
every  part  of  the  Protestant  world.  "Witness  the  rise, 
progress  and  results  of  this  course  of  tactics  in  Germany 
itself.  Witness  the  infidel  and  atheistic  fruits  of  this 
homage  of  reason,  in  the  departments  of  German  meta- 
physics, theology,  criticism,  physical  science,  &c.  Wit- 
ness the  stealthy,  insidious,  infectious  inculcation  and 
progress  of  this  infidelity,  in  the  same  departments,  on 
this  side  of  the  Atlantic, — in  some  universities  and 
colleges  under  cover  of  the  principles  and  discoveries 
of  natural  science ;  in  some  theological  schools,  in  the 
name  of  the  science  of  criticism,  interpretation,  &c. ; 
in  Lyceums  and  halls  of  popular  resort,  by  scientific 
lectures ;  and  at  the  doors  and  in  the  face  of  all,  by  the 
ceaseless  issues  of  the  press. 

Can  any  observer  Avithin  the  precincts  of  Protestantism 
account,  upon  any  other  view  of  the  subject,  for  the 
progress  and  effects  of  this  infection,  with  its  intuitional, 
conceptional,  subjective  and  transcendental  cant;  for 
its  fascinating  and  transforming  power  over  men  pre- 
viously trained  in  schools  of  an  opposite  character;  for 
its  leavenous  working  in  scientific  and  ecclesiastical  fra- 
ternities, or  its  popular  effects  as  administered  orally 
and  by  the  press  ?  Must  we  not  suppose  a  subtle  and 
poAverful  agency  behind  the  scenes,  as  truly  as  in  the 
case  of  Gnosticism,  Mohammedanism,  Romanism,  Mor- 
monism  ?  Has  not  experience  shown  that  a  teacher 
from  the  pulpit  or  from  a  theological  or  literary  chair, 


284  THE   MESSIAH 

who,  notwithstanding  his  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures 
and  of  their  peculiar  doctrines,  begins  to  exhibit  signs 
of  his  conversion  to  German  rationalism  in  any  respect ; 
to  pantheism,  idealism,  neolog}",  infidelity  under  any  of 
its  designations;  soon  becomes  confident,  pertinacious, 
progressive,  and  at  length  is  recognized  as  having  ceased 
to  be  restrained  either  by  his  former  principles  and  pro- 
fessions, or  by  the  authority  of  the  sacred  oracles  ?  In 
short,  if  the  Evil  One  is  still  abroad,  seeking  whom  he 
may  devour;  if  he  is  what  the  Scriptures  represent  him 
to  be;  and  if,  through  the  great  organisms  and  mediums 
of  domination  above  referred  to,  he  still  carries  on  his 
warfare,  we  must  needs  conclude,  from  its  nature  and 
results,  that  he  is  equally  the  prime  mover  and  the 
actuating  power  of  this  rationalistic  system,  deceiver  of 
the  educated  through  their  idolatry  of  reason;  as  of  the 
ignorant  through  the  imposing  forms  of  superstition 
and  the  arts  of  nriestcraft. 


IN   MOSES   AND   THE   PROPHETS.  285 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

Subject  of  the  last  Chaptir  continued — Results  of  the  earliest  and  most 
prevalent  Heresies. 

During  the  first  age  after  the  apostles,  the  Scripture 
doctrines  respecting  the  Trinity,  and  the  Person  and 
work  of  the  Mediator,  appear  to  have  prevailed  in  the 
Church  generally ;  afterwards  a  change  of  phraseology 
among  the  leaders  and  teachers  of  the  Church  took 
place,  and  the  work  of  creation  came  to  be  ascribed,  not 
to  the  Son,  but  to  the  Father. 

Tertullian,  about  the  close  of  the  second  century,  in 
his  answer  to  Praxeas,  who  founded  the  sect  of  Monarch- 
ians,  expressed  himself  in  scriptural  terms  respecting 
the  Trinity  and  the  Person  of  Christ ;  and  describes  the 
faith  which  he  held  in  that  respect,  as  that  which  had 
obtained  from  the  beginning  of  the  gospel ;  i.  e.,  among 
those  admitted  to  be  orthodox.  He  soon  after  separated 
from  the  Catholic  Church.  About  fifty  years  later,  the 
Bishop  of  Carthage  procured  the  excommunication  of 
the  Reformer  Novatian,  founder  of  the  Cathari,  or  Puri- 
tans of  that  day,  who,  following  his  example,  formed 
numerous  seceding  churches  all  over  the  empire,  which 
flourished  during  the  two  succeeding  centuries,  and  a 
succession  of  them  down  to  the  Reformation.  ' '  He  was, " 
says  Mosheim,  "a  man  of  uncommon  learning  and  elo- 
quence." He  wrote  a  work  upon  the  subject  of  the 
Trinity,  of  which  the  first  eight  sections  relate  to  the 
Father ;  the  next  twenty  to  Christ :  the  Old  Testament 
prophecies   concerning  him — their  actual   accomplish- 


286  THE   MESSIAH 

mexit — his  nature — how  the  Scriptures  prove  his  divin- 
ity— confutes  the  Sabellians — shows  that  it  was  Christ 
who  appeared  to  the  patriarchs,  Abraham,  Jacob, 
Moses,  &c. 

From  the  character  ascribed  to  Novatian  by  ecclesias- 
tical historians ;  from  the  censures  cast  upon  him  by  the 
Popish  writers,  who  represent  him  as  the  first  antipope, 
author  of  the  heresy  of  Puritanism,  and  parent  of  an 
innumerable  multitude  of  seceding  Puritan  congregations 
all  over  the  empire ;  from  his  work  above  alluded  to, 
written  in  257,  six  years  after  his  separation  from  the 
dominant  Church ;  and  from  the  known  character  of  the 
Cathari,  he  is  doubtless  to  be  regarded  as  an  eminent 
example  of  primitive  scriptural  faith,  and  a  distinguished 
leader  of  those  who,  driven  into  the  wilderness  by  per- 
secution, perpetuated  that  faith  essentially  and  in  most 
particulars  down  to  the  era  of  Luther. 

The  Paulicians,  whose  rise  is  dated  in  the  seventh 
century,  appear  to  have  been  of  similar  character.  To 
these  succeeded  the  Waldenses,  Albigenses,  and  other 
true  worshippers  in  the,  valleys  of  Piedmont. 

The  Waldenses,  in  their  creed  of  1120,  adopt  all  the 
articles  of  the  so-called  Apostles'  Creed.  They  distinctly 
express  their  faith  in  the  Trinity  and  in  the  canonical 
books  of  Scripture,  which,  they  say,  "teach  us  that 
there  is  one  God,  almighty,  unbounded  in  wisdom  and 
infinite  in  goodness,  and  who  in  his  goodness  has  made 
all  things."  In  another  Confession,  dated  1544,  they 
say:  "We  believe  that  there  is  but  one  God,  who  is  a 
spirit — the  Creator  of  all  things — the  Father  of  all,  who 
is  above  all,"  &c. 

The  Confessions  of  the  Waldenses  were  approved  by 
Luther  and  the  other  Reformers.  Luther  published  them 
in  1533,  with  a  preface. 


IN   MOSES  AND  THE   PROPHETS.  287 

But  the  Creed  called  the  Apostles',  which  the  Walden- 
ses  in  their  first  article  adopt,  expressly  ascribes  the 
work  of  creation  to  the  Father:  "I  believe  in  God  the 
Father  Almighty,  maker  of  heaven  and  earth,  and  in 
Jesus  Christ  his  only  Son  our  Lord."  Probably  this 
formula  should  not  be  dated  so  early  as  the  first,  or  even 
the  second  century.  The  Creed  called  the  Nicene, 
which  was  in  325  adopted  by  the  Council  of  Nice  in 
opposition  to  the  Gnostics,  the  Judaizers,  and  the  heresy 
of  Arius,  comprises  various  terms  explanatory  of  the 
views  then  held  concerning  the  Son,  while  it  speaks  of 
the  Father  as  the  maker  of  all  things.  "We  believe  in 
one  God,  the  Father  Almighty,  maker  of  all  things  visible 
and  invisible.  And  in  one  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son 
of  God,  the  only  begotten :  begotten  of  the  Father,  that 
is,  of  the  substance  of  the  Father.  God  of  God ;  Light 
of  Light ;  true  God  of  true  God ;  begotten,  not  made ; 
consubstantial  with  the  Father,"  &c. 

The  Second  General  Council,  which  was  held  at  Con- 
stantinople in  383,  determined  that  the  Nicene  Creed 
should  be  the  standard  of  orthodoxy. 

This  creed  continued  to  be  held  by  the  Eoman 
Catholic  Church,  and  was  adopted  and  still  continues 
in  use  by  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Churches  both  of 
Great  Britain  and  this  country. 

Probably  the  phraseology  both  of  the  Nicene  and  the 
Apostles'  Creed,  in  respect  to  the  ascription  of  the  works 
of  creation  to  God  the  Father,  having  been  adopted  and 
followed  by  all  succeeding  writers  of  authority,  was  re- 
ceived and  acquiesced  in  by  all  the  Reformers  and  the 
different  Protestant  denominations,  and  thus,  coinciding 
essentially  with  the  Talmudists  and  Rabbinical  Doctors, 
was  in  every  way  sanctioned  and  commended  as  an 
example  to  our  translators. 


288  THE   MESSIAH 

In  the  Confession  of  Faith  and  Catechism  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  of  Scotland  and  that  of  this  country, 
there  is  indeed,  in  respect  to  the  subject  under  consider- 
ation, a  less  exact  copy  than  in  earlier  Confessions  of 
the  phraseology  of  the  Nicene  formula.  The  work  of 
creation  is,  however,  in  no  respect  ascribed  to  the 
Mediator  personally.  The  doctrine  of  the  eternal  gene- 
ration of  the  Son  is  very  distinctly  avowed ;  and  the 
works  of  creation  are  ascribed  to  God,  though  not  with 
any  restricted  reference  to  the  Father,  as  distinguished 
from  the  other  Persons. 

These  brief  references  may  serve  to  show  that  the 
ascription  of  the  work  of  creation  by  some  to  the  Father, 
in  such  a  manner  as  to  indicate  that  it  is  his  personally, 
and  by  others  to  the  Deity,  in  distinction  from  the  de- 
legated official  Person  and  work  of  the  Mediator,  owed 
its  origin  primarily  to  the  nature  of  the  heresies  and 
controversies  by  which  the  Church  was  agitated,  and 
the  methods  of  the  orthodox  in  defending  the  doctrines 
of  the  Trinity  and  the  Divinity  of  Christ,- against  the 
Judaizers,  the  Gnostics,  the  Arians,  and  others;  and 
was  handed  down  in  their  treatises  and  creeds  from 
one  age  to  another.  In  the  same  way  the  doctrine  of 
eternal  generation,  and  all  the  phraseology  in  the  Nicene 
Creed,  for  example,  respecting  the  Son,  which  is  not  to 
be  found  in  like  terms  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  appears 
to  have  arisen.  And  it  is  to  be  observed  that,  in  close 
connection  with  these  opinions  as  adopted  by  Protest- 
ants, is  the  doctrine  that  the  personal  and  official  work 
of  the  Mediator  had  respect  only  to  the  redemption 
of  man,  and  commenced  in  personal  acts  not  till  his 
appearance  incarnate. 

In  view  of  the  origin ,  nature,  and  tendency  of  the 
heresies  above  referred  to,  their  extended  influence,  and 


IN  MOSES  AND  THE   PKOPHETS.  289 

the  manner  in  which  they  were  controverted,  one  can 
hardly  avoid  the  conclusion,  that  the  order  of  Divine 
instruction  in  the  most  essential  particulars  was  in- 
verted, by  the  assumption  of  some  and  the  acquies- 
cence therein  of  others,  that  the  Old  Testament  re- 
vealed only  the  one  invisible  Deity  absolutely  con- 
sidered, as  the  Creator  and  Governor  of  the  world,  whose 
oneness  or  unity  was  so  regarded  by  one  class  as  to 
preclude  the  idea  -of  any  personal  distinction  in  the 
Godhead;  and  so  regarded  by  many  others,  who  held 
both  the  unity  and  the  distinction  of  Persons,  as  to 
lead  them,  irrespective  of  that  distinction,  to  ascribe 
the  works  of  creation  and  providence  to  the  one  Su- 
preme Deity,  or  to  the  Father. 

Of  the  class  first  above  mentioned  were  the  Jews  at 
the  period  of  the  Incarnation.  They  therefore  opposed 
and  rejected  the  Messiah,  on  account  of  his  Divine  pre- 
tensions, making  himself  a  distinct  Person  of  the  God- 
head, equal  with  God.  They  looked  not  for  a  Messiah 
of  such  a  character,  nor  for  deliverance  from  sin 
through  faith  in  his  vicarious  sufferings,  nor  for  a  sal- 
vation which  was  to  be  extended  to  the  Gentiles.  They 
held  to  justification  by  their  ritual  services  and  obedi- 
ence to  the  law  of  Moses,  and  desired  only  a  Messiah 
or  leader  who  should  deliver  them  from  temporal  evils. 

There  were,  at  that  period,  considerable  numbers  of 
Jews  resident  in  the  several  provinces  of  the  Roman 
empire,  who,  following  the  early  examples  of  their 
kindred  in  Judea,  opposed  and  persecuted  those  who 
believed  in  the  Divinity  of 'Jesus  the  crucified,  as  the 
true  Messiah.  At  the  same  time  they  professed  the 
utmost  zeal  for  the  doctrine  of  the  Unity,  and  for  the 
exclusive  worship  of  the  one  Supreme  Deity,  and  as- 
sociated their  rejection  of  the  gospel  and  its  Author 
13 


290  THE   MESSIAH    .' 

with  their  vehement  opposition  to  idolatry.  As  the 
preaching  of  the  gospel  was  extended  from  Jerusalem 
to  the  provinces,  many  Jews  professed  to  receive  it, 
who,  retaining  their  former  religious  opinions  and  pre- 
judices, and  setting  up  to  be  preachers,  endeavored  to 
subvert  the  peculiar  doctrines  of  Christianity,  and  to 
subject  the  converts,  real  and  nominal,  to  their  notions 
of  Judaism  and  of  the  ritual  of  Moses.  These  Judaiz- 
ing  teachers  still  insisted  on  justification  by  the  works 
of  the  law,  held  firmly  to  their  national  prejudices, 
exclusive  privileges,  and  hatred  of  the  Gentiles,  and  to 
fortify  themselves,  joined  with  those  Gentile  heretics 
whose  errors  were  consistent  with  their  own. 

The  Jews  themselves  far  exceeded  all  others  in 
opposing  the  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  and  persecuting 
those  who  embraced  them.  "  Other  nations,"  says 
Justin  Martyr  to  Trypho,  [A.  D.  115  or  120,]  "  are  not 
so  culpable  for  the  injury  that  is  done  to  us  and  to 
Christ  himself,  as  you,  who  first  caused  them  to  enter- 
tain so  great  a  prejudice  against  that  Just  One,  and  us 
his  disciples  and  followers.  For  after  you  had  crucified 
him  who  alone  was  unblamable  and  just,  by  whose 
stripes  they  are  healed  who  come  unto  the  Father  by 
him;  after  ye  knew  that  he  was  risen  from  the  dead 
and  ascended  up  into  heaven,  as  the  ancient  prophecies 
foretold  concerning  him ;  ye  were  so  far  from  repenting 
of  those  evil  deeds  which  ye  have  committed,  that  even 
then  ye  dispatched  from  Jerusalem,  into  all  countries,  select 
missionaries,  to  inform  them  that  the  impious  sect  of  Chris- 
tians, lately  sprung  up,  worshipped  no  God;  and  to  spread 
abroad  those  false  and  scandalous  reproaches  which  all 
that  are  unacquainted  with  us  and  our  religion  do  even 
to  this  day  lay  to  our  charge."  Brown's  Version,  sec.  17. 
The  Jews  denounced  the  Christians  as  atheists,  because 


IN   MOSES  AND   THE   PROPHETS.  291 

they  worshipped  the  Christ  as  God,  instead  of  restrict- 
ing their  homage  to  Him  whom  they  regarded  as  the 
one  Supreme,  invisible  Creator. 

Under  the  influence  so  widely  diffused  from  this 
source,  and  that  of  the  heresies  above  referred  to,  the 
Church  passed  into  the  dark  cloud  of  Popish  super- 
stition, ignorance,  and  imposture.  The  era  of  inspi- 
ration and  miracles  had  passed.  The  idolatrous  forms 
of  paganism  were  transferred  from  the  heathen  to  the 
so-called  Christian  temples.  The  theory  of  religion 
then,  combining  elements  from  Judaism,  Oriental  phi- 
losophy, Paganism,  and  Christianity,  was  practically 
accommodated  to  the  heart  of  man  in  his  natural  state. 
Modes  of  interpretation  were  introduced,  by  which 
truth,  so  far  as  it  was  admitted,  was  made  to  serve  all 
the  ends  and  purposes  of  error.  The  Popish  s}<stem, 
for  example,  while  it  retains,  in  terms,  the  doctrine 
of  the  Trinity,  denies  all  those  collateral  and  depend- 
ent truths  which  render  that  doctrine  of  any  value  in 
the  affair  of  man's  salvation.  It  allows  the  Divinity  of 
Jesus  Christ,  but  supersedes  him  in  respect  to  his  sacer- 
dotal and  regal  offices,  and  in  effect  denies  his  person- 
ality. In  place  of  his  atonement,  it  substitutes  the 
Mass.  To  supersede  or  obviate  his  personal  mediation, 
it  offers,  like  Paganism,  a  thousand  creature  mediators. 
To  nullify  his  personality,  and  the  admission  of  his 
Divinity,  it  professes  even  to  create  him. 

The  subjects  of  controversy  to  which  these  heresies 
gave  rise  were  such  as,  under  the  influence  of  certain 
controlling  circumstances,  unavoidably  to  change  or 
modify  the  faith,  in  respect  to  some  doctrines,  of  those 
who  continued  to  be  in  the  main  evangelical.  The 
circumstances  referred  to  resulted  from  the  national- 
ization  of  the  Church,  the   assumption   by  the   civil 


292  THE   MESSIAH 

power  of  legislative  authority  over  its  doctrines  and  all 
its  concerns,  and  the  consequent  prescription,  under 
the  severest  penalties,  of  entire  uniformity  of  faith  and 
worship.  Hence,  when  heresies  arose  and  spread,  Coun- 
cils were  called  to  suppress  them,  and  to  prescribe  the 
rule  of  faith  which  was  to  be  enforced.  Their  deter- 
minations, of  course,  must  be  in  conformity  not  only 
with  the  opinions  of  a  majority  of  those  convened,  but 
with  the  sentiments  of  the  reigning  emperor.  When- 
ever he  and  the  majority  of  those  summoned  to  a  Coun- 
cil were  inclined  to  Arianism,  image  worship,  and  the 
like,  those  who  held  the  primitive  faith  had  to  choose 
between  a  surrender  of  their  principles  and  deposition, 
banishment,  or  death.  The  tendency  of  this  course  of 
things  to  drive  the  true  confessors  of  Christ  into  the 
wilderness,  and  to  induce  the  best  of  those  who  re- 
mained in  the  so-called  Catholic  Church  to  dissemble, 
and  to  adopt  the  sentiments  and  phraseology  of  those 
whom  they  deemed  to  be  in  error,  is  too  apparent  to 
require  any  illustration. 

Now  those  controversies  from  the  first  with  the 
Gnostics,  the  Cerinthians,  Yalentinians,  "Monarchians, 
Sabellians,  Manichseans,  Arians,  and  various  others, 
related  to  the  character  of  the  Supreme  Being,  the  Cre- 
ator; the  mode  of  Divine  existence;  the  Trinity;  the 
Person  of  Christ;  and  topics  intimately  connected  with 
these.  The  changes  and  modifications  of  phraseology 
and  sentiment  which,  for  the  sake  of  unity,  or  for  other 
reasons,  the  more  evangelical  adopted,  as  in  the  Nicene 
Creed  and  in  their  theological  writings,  were  regularly 
handed  down  to  the  period  of  the  Eeformation.  These 
writings  were  studied,  and  had  their  influence  with  the 
Reformers,  on  their  receding  from  the  corruptions  of 
Popery. 


IN   MOSES  AND   THE   PROPHETS.  293 

In  this  way,  a  departure  in  some  things  from  the 
patriarchal,  the  early  Jewish  and  the  primitive  Christian 
faith,  is  believed  to  have  taken  place;  particularly  in 
the  omission  to  ascribe  the  works  of  creation  and  pro- 
vidence to  the  Christ,  in  his  delegated  personal  character 
as  Mediator,  and  ascribing  those  works  to  the  Father; 
and  in  adopting  the  sentiments  that  the  mediatorial 
work  commenced  after  the  fall,  and  had  for  its  sole 
object  the  salvation  of  men,  and  that  his  second  com- 
ing and  reign  would  not  be  personal  and  visible,  but 
only  spiritual,  at  least  not  until  the  final  judgment  and 
consummation  of.  all  things. 

The  first  of  these  errors — that  of  ascribing  the  cre- 
ation to  the  Father  personally,  or  to  the  invisible  Deity, 
irrespective  of  any  distinction  of  Persons  in  the  God- 
nead— is  to  be  traced  back  in  the  line  of  the  Jews  to  the 
period  of  the  Babylonish  exile,  and  to  the  influences 
and  state  of  mind  under  which  they  renounced  idolatry, 
and  with  it  the  entire  doctrine  of  mediation,  and  all 
belief  in  a  divine,  atoning,  and  interceding  Messiah ;  and, 
obscuring  by  their  traditions  and  glosses,  or  wholly  re- 
jecting, those  prophecies  which  relate  to  the  first  ad- 
vent and  sufferings  of  the  Saviour,  looked  for  a  human 
deliverer  and  temporal  chief,  a  king  to  resume  the 
throne  of  David,  in  those  predictions  of  the  second 
advent  which  indicate  a  period  of  universal  peace  and 
happiness. 

The  Jews,  previously  to  their  exile,  had,  both  in 
respect  to  their  knowledge  of  divine  things  and  their 
practice,  greatly  degenerated.  They  had  long  been 
addicted  to  idolatry.  They  had  rejected  their  Divine 
Protector  and  King,  and  yielded  themselves  to  the  false 
notions  and  corrupt  practices  of  the  heathen.  The 
Divine  presence   and  favor  were   withdrawn.     They 


294  THE    MESSIAH 

were  afflicted  and  driven  out  of  their  country.  Pro- 
phets were  sent  to  instruct,  admonish,  and  encourage 
them;  but  they  refused,  to  hear,  being  hardened  and 
blinded  in  unbelief.  They  regarded  the  God  of  Abra- 
ham, the  Jehovah  who  led  them  out  of  Egypt,  and,  in 
the  Shekina,  presided  over  their  nation,  either  as  having 
become  their  enemy,  or  as  having  withdrawn  from 
them  for  ever.  Under  these  circumstances,  there  is 
ground  to  conclude  that  they  willingly  settled  down 
in  the  notion  of  a  Supreme  Creator,  invisible,  far  re- 
moved from  the  concerns  of  mortals,  and  indifferent  or 
inattentive  to  them.  On  abandoning  the  forms  of  idol- 
atry, and  rejecting  the  pretended  mediators  of  idola- 
trous worship,  while  yet  continuing  impenitent,  and 
maintaining  a  proud  and  haughty  spirit  as  Jews,  though 
now  depressed,  and  apparently  abandoned  of  God ;  they 
are  believed  to  have  banished  from  their  minds  all  near 
apprehensions  of  the  Divine  Being,  and  all  ideas  of  a 
Divine  Mediator,  and  to  have  tak"en  refuge  in  the  ab- 
stract notion  of  a  Supreme  Creator,  who,  though  no 
longer  regarded  as  their  covenant  God  and  present 
protector,  had  promised  a  leader,  a  Messiah,  who  should 
deliver  them  from  their  temporal  calamities. 

Such  is  believed  to  have  been  their  state  of  mind  at 
the  close  of  their  exile ;  such  the  change  attending  their 
renunciation  of  idolatry ;  and  that  the  error  and  defect- 
in  question,  respecting  the  teachings  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, had  its  source  with  them.  Their  sentiments  and 
state  of  mind  having  been  perpetuated  down  to  the 
period  of  the  Advent,  were  propagated  afterwards  in 
the  manner  above  referred  to. 

There" was,  indeed,  a  partial,  outward  reformation 
under  Nehemiah,  after  the  return  from  Babylon,  and 
the  temple  service  was  resumed ;  but  the  Shekina  did 


IN   MOSES  AND  THE   PROPHETS.  295 

not  reappear,  and  there  was  no  general  or  lasting 
change,  amongst  the  people.  The  Chaldee  expositors, 
and  afterwards  the  paraphrasts,  labored  to  revive  and 
perpetuate  the  lost  meaning  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures ; 
but  though  a  few,  a  remnant,  of  such  as  rightly  appre- 
hended and  truly  feared  Jehovah  were  preserved  and 
perpetuated,  the  theology  and  religion  of  the  nation 
generally  underwent  no  important  change  for  the 
better. 

The  foregoing  considerations  may  suffice  to  show  how 
it  has  happened  that  the  Old  Testament  has,  both  by 
Jews  and  Christians,  so  long  and  so  generally  been 
understood  to  ascribe  the  works  of  creation  and  pro- 
vidence, not  to  the  Mediator,  but  to  the  Father,  or  to 
the  Deity,  irrespective  of  any  personal  or  official  dis- 
tinctions. 

That  this  error,  and  others  intimately  associated  with 
it,  respecting  the  person  and  work  of  Christ,  should 
have  arisen  and  been  perpetuated  in  the  manner  speci- 
fied, cannot  reasonably  be  regarded  with  surprise.  The 
nature  of  the  case,  and  the  lights  of  the  intervening 
history,  are  at  war  with  the  supposition  that  the  true 
doctrines  upon  these  subjects,  concerning  which  the 
governments,  hierarchies,  and  people  of  the  whole 
heathen  world  were  in  utter  darkness  and  error,  were 
preserved  by  the  Jews  after  their  return  from  Babylon, 
and  after  their  rejection  of  Christ,  and  by  the  apostate 
hierarchy  of  the  Komish  system  imbued  with  the  spirit 
and  degenerated  to  the  level  of  Paganism,  in  all  but  the 
name.  If,  as  is  notorious,  they  did  not  truly  teach  the 
doctrines  of  Scripture  upon  other  subjects,  least  of  all 
can  it  be  believed  that  they  taught  the  truth  concerning 
these. 


296  THE  MESSIAH 

Note.     Concerning  the  Work  of  Creation  and  its  completion  at  one 
Epoch. 

It  is  clear  from  Colossians,  chap,  i.,  that  the  work  of 
creation,  there  and  elsewhere  ascribed  to  the  Christ,  in- 
cluded the  invisible  as  well  as  the  visible  worlds  and 
all  creatures;  that  they  were  called  into  existence  by 
him  and  for  him,  for  the  purposes  he  was  to  execute 
and  the  ends  which  were  to  be  accomplished  by  him. 
He  is  accordingly  referred  to  as  upholding  and  govern- 
ing all  things,  as  having  all  power  in  heaven  and  earth, 
as  heir  and  Lord  of  all.  Angels,  principalities  and 
powers  are  subject  to  him ;  and  to  him  in  his  official 
character  (as  visibly  manifested  "the  Son  of  Man")  all 
judgment  is  committed. 

Now  these  comprehensive  ascriptions  to  him  in  his 
delegated  character,  and  in  express  connection  with  his 
work  as  Mediator  and  Redeemer,  as  in  the  passage 
above  referred  to,  and  in  Heb.  i.,  render  it  preposterous 
to  suppose  that  worlds  and  creatures  invisible  to  us,  or 
any  portion  of  the  works  of  creation,  were  brought 
into  existence  prior  to  that  creation  which  is  described 
in  the  Mosaic  narrative.  For  if  they  were,  what  con- 
ceivable connection  or  relation  could  they  have  had 
with  his  person  or  character  as  Redeemer,  Messiah, 
God-man?  Did  he  sustain  that  official  character  or 
exercise  any  of  its  offices  ages  prior  to  the  creation  of 
man? 

In  the  beginning  He  created  the  heavens  and  the  earth. 
Gen.  i.  He  was  in  the  beginning  ;  all  things  were  made 
by  him.  John  i.  In  the  beginning  he  laid  the  foundation 
of  the  earth,  and  the  heavens  are  the  work  of  his  hands. 
Heb.  i.  In  six  days  he  made  the  heavens  and  the 
earth.  Exodus  xx.     But  if  the  phrase   "in  the  begin- 


IN   MOSES  AND  THE   PROPHETS.  297 

ning,"  so  frequently  employed  in  this  connection,  marks 
the  epoch  of  the  creation  of  the  heavens,  it  refers  that 
of  the  earth  to  the  same  epoch.  The  "all  things" 
doubtless  include  the  invisible  as  well  as  the  visible 
worlds ;  and  the  foundations  of  the  earth  were  laid  in 
the  beginning.  "  Thou  hast  made  heaven,  the  heaven  of 
heavens,  with  all  their  host,  the  earth  and  all  things 
that  are  therein,  the  sea  and  all  that  is  therein,  and 
thou  preservest  them  all ;  and  the  host  of  heaven  wor- 
shipped thee."  Neh.  ix.  7.  "  The  heaven  and  the  hea- 
ven of  heavens  is  Jehovah's,  the  earth  also  with  all  that 
therein  is."  Deut.  x.  14.  In  these  and  all  similar  con- 
nections, as  Gen.  i.  1 :  Exod.  xx.  11,  where  the  Hebrew 
word  is  in  the  plural  form,  heavens,  the  universe  of 
worlds  visible  and  invisible  is  meant.  To  preclude  all 
doubt  of  this  comprehensive  reference,  Moses  and 
Nehemiah,  both  having  occasion  to  guard  against  the 
pretensions  of  idolatry,  employ  the  phrase,  heaven  of 
heavens. 

Accordingly,  wherever  the  work  of  creation  is  men- 
tioned, whether  distinctively  as  the  work  of  Jehovah,  or 
historically,  as  including  all  worlds,  the  plural  word,  the 
heavens,  is  employed,  and  put  in  contrast  with  the  earth. 
"  Thus,"  at  the  close  of  the  six  days,  "  the  heavens  and 
the  earth  were  finished,  and  all  the  host  of  them." 
Gen.  ii.  1.  These  are  the  generations  of  the  heavens  and 
of  the  earth  when  they  were  created,  in  the  day  that  the 
Lord  God  made  the  earth  and  the  heavens."  Gen.  ii.  4. 
"Thus  saith  God  the  Lord,  he  that  created  the  heavens 
and  stretched  them  out,  he  that  spread  forth  the  earth, 
and  that  which  cometh  out  of  it."  Isaiah  xlii.  5. 
"  Thus  saith  the  Lord  thy  Eedeemer,  and  he  that  formed 
thee :  I  am  the  Lord  that  maketh  all  things,  that  stretch- 
eth  forth  the  heavens  alone,  that  spreadeth  abroad  the 
13* 


298  THE   MESSIAH 

earth  by  myself."  Isaiah  xliv.  24.  "  Thus  saith  the 
Lord,  the  Holy  One  of  Israel,  and  his  maker,  ...  I  have 
made .  the  earth  and  created  man  upon  it :  I,  even  my 
hands,  have  stretched  forth  the  heavens,  and  all  their 
hosts  have  I  commanded."  Ibid.  xlv.  12.  "  Thus  saith 
the  Lord  that  created  the  heavens;  God  himself  that 
formed  the  earth  and  made  it ;  he  created  it  not  in  vain, 
he  formed  it  to  be  inhabited :  I  am  the  Lord,  and  there 
is  none  else."  Ibid.  xlv.  18.  "  The  Lord  thy  maker, 
that  hath  stretched  forth  the  heavens  and  laid  the  founda- 
tions of  the  earth."  Ibid.  li.  13.  "  The  Lord  is  the  true 
God,  he  is  the  living  God,  and  an  everlasting  King.  .  .  . 
The  gods  that  have  not  made  the  heavens  and  the  earth, 
even  they  shall  perish  from  the  earth,  and  from  under 
these  heavens.  .  .  .  He  hath  made  the  earth  by  his 
power,  he  hath  established  the  world  by  his  wisdom, 
and  hath  stretched  out  the  heayens  by  his  discretion." 
Jer.  x.  10,  &c,  also  Psalm  xcvi.  5  ;  cii.  25,  &c,  &c. 

In  these  and  similar  passages,  where,  in  the  most  com- 
prehensive and  unequivocal  manner,  the  creation  of  all 
things  is  asserted,  the  simultaneous  creation  of  all  is 
clearly  indicated  in  the  collocation  of  the  words  the 
heavens  and  the  earth,  the  latter  being  sometimes  placed 
before  and  sometimes  after  the  former. 

The  same  plural  word  is  employed  in  other  connec- 
tions: "Blessed  be  Abram  of  the  Most  High  God, 
possessor  of  the  heavens  and  the  earth.  ...  I  have 
lifted  up  my  hand  unto*-  the  Lord,  the  Most  High  God, 
possessor  of  the  heavens  and  the  earth."  Gen.  xiv.  "  Is 
not  God  in  the  height  of  the  heavens?"  job  xxii. 
"  Look  down  from  thy  holy  habitation,  from  the  heavens, 
and  bless  thy  people."  Deut.  xxvi.  "  O  God,  look 
down  from  the  heavens  and  behold."  Psalm  Ixxx. 
' '  The  Lord  he  is  God  in  the  heavens  above  and  upon 


IN   MOSES  AjSD  THE   PROPHETS.  299 

the  earth."  Deut.  iv.  "  Praise  ye  the  Lord  from  the 
heavens.  .  .  .  Praise  ye  him,  all  his  angels ;  praise  ye 
him,  all  his  hosts.  Praise  ye  him,  sun  and  moon : 
praise  him,  all  ye  stars  of  light.  Praise  him,  ye  hea- 
vens of  heavens.  .  .  .  Let  them  praise  the  name  of 
Jehovah:  for  he  commanded,  and  they  were  created. 
He  hath  also  established  them  for  ever  and  ever ;  he 
hath  made  a  decree  which  shall  not  pass."  Psalm  cxlviii. 

The  Scriptures  speak  of  one  creation  only ;  and  of 
that,  directly  and  incidentally,  in  such  terms  as  to  leave 
no  room  for  the  supposition  that  any  portion  of  the 
material  universe  was  called  into  existence  prior  to  the 
Mosaic  epoch.  They  exhibit  nothing  from  which  an 
inference  can  be  derived  that  all  were  not  created  at  one 
epoch.  The  contrary  supposition  is  not  founded  on 
any  authority  of  inspiration,  but  upon  conjecture  or 
assumption.  It  is  by  some  assumed  that  by  the  heavens 
Moses  meant  the  orbs  of  our  solar  system  only,  or  at 
most,  the  stars  visible  in  the  firmament  to  the  unassisted 
eye.  They  think  it  unreasonable  to  suppose  that  in  all 
past  eternity  nothing  was  created  more  than  about  six 
thousand  years  ago.  They  cannot  imagine  what  the 
Creator  was  doing,  if  he  did  not  exercise  his  power  in 
creating  worlds.  But  the  same  supposition  might  with 
equal  reason  be  made  with  respect  to  any  earlier  con- 
ceivable epoch.  For  at  any  such  earlier  epoch  there 
had  been  a  past  eternity,  a  duration  without  beginning. 
The  terms  of  the  supposition  are  solecistical  and  absurd, 
so  far  as  relates  to  the  Creator ;  and  with  respect  to  the 
little  mind  of  man,  they  are  of  no  significance,  unless 
the  invisible  worlds  are  eternal. 

It  is  more  obvious  than  necessary  to  suggest  an  astro- 
nomical argument  against  the  supposition  of  successive 
creations  of   suns  and   systems.     It   is  a  doctrine  of 


300  THE  MESSIAH 

astronomy  that  our  sun  with  its  dependent  system  re- 
volves round  a  central  orb,  as  our  planets  revolve 
around  the  sun ;  but  in  an  orbit  of  such  immense  ex- 
tent as  to  require  near  two  millions  of  years,  at  the  rate 
of  thirty  millions  of  miles  a  year,  to  accomplish  one 
revolution.  From  the  observations  and  facts  which 
verify  this  doctrine,  it  is  legitimate  to  infer  that  there 
is  a  like  revolution  of  all  other  suns  and  systems,  and 
that  the  laws  which  govern  those  vast  and  complicated 
movements  were  established  at  the  creation.  With 
these  considerations  in  view,  we  may  confidently  infer 
that  the  infinite  Creator  did  not  call  into  existence  and 
establish  the  relations,  motions,  and  revolutions  of  a 
portion  of  the  celestial  orbs  at  one  epoch,  and  another 
portion  at  a  later  epoch,  so  as  to  derange  all  that  had 
been  perfected,  and  require  new  adjustments,  new  rela- 
tions, new  movements,  new  velocities,  and  peradventure 
enlarged  forces  of  attraction  and  gravitation  throughout 
the  realms  of  space. 

To  judge  of  the  force  of  this  argument,  one  must,  i» 
view  of  the  harmony  of  the  existing  material  system 
under  the  well-known  laws  which  govern  it,  consider 
what  would  be  the  necessary  and  inevitable  effects  of 
adding  to  that  system  new  stars  equal  in  number  and 
dimensions  to  those  visible  from  the  earth,  or  even  one 
other  solar  system,  equal  to  that  to  which  the  earth  be- 
longs. Undoubtedly,  if  our  mathematics,  our  inductive 
philosophy,  and  our  astronomy  are  to  be  relied  on,  the 
addition  to  the  existing  orbs  of  one  globe  like  the  earth 
would  more  or  less  disturb  and  derange  the  whole,  or 
require  an  infinite  miracle  to  prevent  disturbance. 

Closely  connected  with  the  supposition  of  worlds 
created  longer  ago  than  the  earth,  is  that  of  successive 
creations  of  plants  and  animals  to  supply  the  defect  of 


IN   MOSES  AND  THE   PROPHETS.  301 

new  or  remote  continents  and  islands.  Many  who,  con- 
formably to  the  Scriptures,  hold  to  the  identity  of  the 
human  race  as  descended  from  one  primitive  pair, 
though  distributed  over  all  the  continents  and  islands, 
and  exhibiting  in  many  respects  extreme  diversity, 
profess  nevertheless  to  believe  that  there  have  been 
many  successive  creations  of  brute  animals  since,  if  not 
prior  to  the  deluge.  Though  pairs  of  the  inferior  races 
as  well  as  of  the  human  race  were  preserved  in  the  ark, 
and  for  the  same  reason — "to  keep  seed  alive  upon  the 
face  of  all  the  earth,"  and  though  no  greater  obstacles 
existed,  so  far  as  we  know,  to  the  dispersion  of  the  in- 
ferior animals  to  all  quarters  of  the  globe  than  to  that 
of  man,  they  indulge  the  notion,  without  any  authority 
from  Scripture,  or  any  demonstrable  necessity,  or  any 
better  reason  than  the  exigency  of  a  geological  theory, 
that  the  Creator  of  the  universe,  in  the  course  of  his 
providence  over  this  apostate  and  blighted  world,  has, 
from  time  to  time,  exercised  his  power  in  creating  races 
of  brutes  to  be  subject  to  the  conditions  of  those  who 
shared  in  the  consequences  of  the  apostasy  of  man. 

Such  a  notion  seems  in  every  view  incongruous  and 
preposterous,  without  reason  or  necessity,  inconsistent 
with  the  law  of  creation  in  respect  to  man,  and  un- 
worthy of  the  perfections  and  of  the  moral  purposes 
and  administration  of  the  Creator.  It  seems  to  imply 
the  further  notion,  that  the  same  providence  which  dis- 
persed and  preserved  the  human  race  in  all  quarters 
and  climates  of  the  world,  was  inadequate  to  the  same 
results  in  the  case  of  the  lower  animals,  and  that  it  was 
of  such  moment  to  keep  every  locality  stocked  with 
savage  and  carnivorous  beasts  as  to  call,  from  time  to 
time,  for  the  interposition  of  creative  power. 

The  object  of  the  works  of  creation,  as  the  scene 


302  THE   MESSIAH 

of  the  moral  and  providential  administration  of  the 
Creator,  would,  in  harmony  with  the  announcements 
of  Scripture,  seem  to  imply  that  they  were  brought 
into  existence  at  one  epoch.  That  administration  had 
a  beginning:  at  the  beginning  he  created  the  scene  and 
subjects  of  it.  It  extends  to  all  worlds.  It  is  one 
comprehensive,  universal,  perfect  system,  involving  the 
rights  and  prerogatives  of  the  Supreme  Euler,  which 
are  founded  on  the  fact  of  his  being  the  Creator  of  all ; 
and  the  obligations  and  duties  of  intelligent  creatures, 
which  arise  from  the  fact  of  their  owing  their  existence 
to  him. 

Now,  since  there  could  be  no  conceivable  obstruc- 
tion to. his  bringing  all  the  worlds  and  creatures  through- 
out the  realms  of  space  into  being  at  one  epoch ;  and 
since  the  administration  of  which  they  were  to  be  the 
scene  was  to  comprehend  them  all,  it  would  seem  bet- 
ter to  comport  with  the  admitted  object  of  them  and 
with  his  infinite  perfections,  to  believe  that  he  created 
them  all  at  once,  than  to  suppose  that  he  laid  the  foun- 
dation of  his  empire  in  part  at  one  and  in  part  at  a 
later  epoch.  On  the  latter  supposition,  it  would  be  easv, 
at  least,  to  suggest  very  plausible  objections  and  dif- 
ficulties, for  which,  on  the  former,  there  is  no  room. 

The  passage  in  Job  xxviii.,  "Whereupon  are  the 
foundations  of  the  earth  fastened?  or  who  laid  the 
corner-stone  thereof,  when  the  morning  stars  sang 
together,  and  all  the  sons  of  God  shouted  for  joy  ?"  is 
by  some  supposed  to  imply,  that  when  the  earth  was 
created,  there  were  preexisting  worlds  and  intelligent 
creatures  to  witness  and  celebrate  the  event.  But  if  such 
were  the  meaning  of  this  poetical  description,  those 
morning  stars  must  have  been  such  as  were  visible 
from  the  earth,  or  else  the  earth  could  not  be  supposed 


IN   MOSES  AND   THE  PROPHETS.  303 

to  be  visible  from  them.  Tile  Scriptures,  however, 
refer  to  the  visible  stars  as  being  created  at  the  same 
time  with  the  earth.  In  the  narrative  of  the  fourth 
day  it  is  said,  "And  Grod  made  two  great  lights;  ...  he 
made  the  stars  also ;  and  set  them  in  the  firmament  of 
heaven,  to  give  light  upon  the  earth,  and  to  rule  over 
the  day  and  over  the  night,"  &c.  Gen.  i.  It  is  not 
conceivable  that  the  reference  in  Job  should  have  beer 
meant  to  exclude  the  visible  stars ;  and  if  it  included 
them,  then  it  included  celestial  worlds  which  were  created 
simultaneously  with  the  earth.  The  phrase,  "morning 
stars,"  doubtless  signifies  stars  visible  in  the  morning. 
The  terms  employed  in  Job  may,  perhaps,  be  better 
rendered,  "  The  stars  burst  forth  together  as  light,  or  as 
the  morning." 

From  the  narrative  of  the  temptation  in  Eden,  some 
imagine  that  Satan  had  existed  and  fallen  before  the 
creation  of  Adam.  But  there  is  no  reference  to  that 
evil  being  till  after  Adam  and  Eve  were  placed  in  the 
garden.  How  long  they  were  there  before  the  tempta- 
tion, we  know  not.  It  was  long"  enough,  however,  for 
them  to  receive  instruction  as  to  the  prohibited  tree,  and 
for  Adam  "  to  give  names  to  ail  cattle,  and  to  the  fowl 
of  the  air,  and  to  every  beast  of  the  field  ;"  long  enough 
for  them  to  become  familiar  with  the  place,  and  with 
the  voice  and  other  tokens  of  the  Creator's  presence. 
Now,  on  the  supposition  that  all  the  angelic  hosts  were 
created  simultaneously  with  the  heavens  and  the  earth, 
what  was  there  to  hinder  the  apostasy  of  Satan  between 
the  date  of  that  creation  and  his  assault  upon  Adam, 
which  would  not  equally  have  hindered  the  apostasy  of 
man  so  soon  after  his  creation?  Is  it  not,  from  the 
nature  of  the  case,  more  probable  that  Satan  revolted 
very  soon  after  his  creation,  than  at  a  remote  period  ? 


301  -     THE   MESSIAH     . 

As  in  the  case  of  Adam,  who,  had 'he  continued  holy  for 
scores  or  thousands  of  years,  would,  we  may  well  pre- 
sume, have  been  less  likely  to  fall  than  at  the  outset  of 
his  career,  before  he  had  formed  habits  of  obedience,  or 
had  the  benefit  of  experience. 

It  is  remarkable  with  what  facility  the  most  prepos- 
terous assumptions  have  been  adopted  and  perpetuated 
respecting  the  Creator,  the  works  of  creation,  provi- 
dence, moral  government,  &c,  to  aid  in  support  of  pre- 
conceived religious,  philosophical,  physical,  and  social 
theories.  The  principal  religious  heresies,  whether  pro 
'pounded  under  the  garb  of  theology  or  that  of  phil- 
osophy and  science,  falsely  so  called,  have  rested  upon 
false  assumptions  respecting  the  character  and  condition 
of  man  as  a  fallen  creature,  and  the  one  only  Deliverer 
and  way  of  deliverance,  and  respecting  the  character, 
prerogatives,  and  rights  of  the  Creator  and  Euler  of  the 
world,  and  the  nature,  epoch,  and  object  of  the  work 
of  creation.  Witness  the  Gnostic,  Arian,  Pelagian, 
Socinian,  and  other  ancient -religious  heresies,  on  the 
one  hand ;  anjl  on  the  other,  the  theory  of  our  modern 
geologists,  in  its  relation  to  the  inspiration,  authority, 
and  meaning  of  the  Scriptures,  the  nature,  date  and 
purpose  of  the  creation  of  the  world,  and  the  causes 
and  reasons  of  the  physical  changes'it  has  undergone. 

The  fact  that  all  the  great  heresies  and  false  systems 
by  which  the  post-diluvian  world  has  been  deceived 
and  held  in  the  bondage  of  corruption,  have  risen  from 
false  assumptions  and  erroneous  theories  concerning 
the  Creator  and  the  work  of  creation ;  and  from  those 
assumptions  and  theories,  as  starting-points,  have  di- 
verged from  the  truth  as  revealed  in  Scripture;  this 
fact,  and  the  consideration  that,  the  rights  and  preroga- 
tives of  Jehovah,  in  relation  to  his  creatures  and  their 


IN  MOSES  AND  THE   PROPHETS.  305 

obligations  and  duties  towards  him,  are  founded  in  the 
fact  of  his  being  the  Creator,  demonstrate  that  the 
account  which  he  has  given  of  his  works  is  of  equal 
authority  with  the  other  contents  of  his  Word.  It  lies, 
at  the  foundation  of  his  moral  law  and  government, 
and  of  his  providential  administration  over  all  worlds, 
and  is  essential  to  his  claim  of  supreme  allegiance  and 
homage  from  all  intelligent  creatures.  It  lies  at  the 
foundation  of  all  scriptural  faith  in  God  and  in  the 
doctrines  of  his  Word,  and  is  the  basis  of  the  true,  in 
contradistinction  to  all  false  religion. 


806  THE   MESSIAH 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

The  great  Antagonism — in  what  manner  will  it  terminate? 

The  great  peculiarity  in  the  history  of  the  human 
race  took  its  rise  in  the  apostasy  of  man,  and  is  exhi- 
bited in  the  antagonism  between  the  rightful  Sovereign 
of  the  world  and  the  instigator  of  that  apostasy,  and  in 
the  agency,  relations  and  destiny  of  their  respective 
followers.  In  the  progress  of  the  conflict  between  the 
righteous  and  the  wicked,  holiness  and  sin,  happiness 
and  misery,  light  and  darkness,  truth  and  falsehood,  the 
desperate  malevolence  of  the  Evil  One,  and  the  guilt  and 
ruin  of  his  followers,  are  made  manifest  to  all  observers ; 
and  on  the  other  hand,  the  infinite  riches  of  the  wisdom, 
goodness,  righteousness  and  mercy  of  the  great  Deli- 
verer towards  his  followers,  in  their  renewed  allegiance 
and  recovery  to  holiness  and  happiness,  are  equally 
made  public.  In  the  announcements  of  his  Word,  and 
in  the  administration  of  his  moral  and  providential 
government  over  them,  the  wrath  of  God  is  revealed 
against  all  ungodliness  and  unrighteousness  of  man. 
The  angels  who  kept  not  their  first  estate  were  reserved 
to  an  inevitable  doom.  The  early  descendants  of  the 
first  human  pair  wholly  corrupted  their  way  and  filled 
the  earth  with  violence,  and  "the  world  that  then  was, 
being  overflowed  with  water,  perished."  The  imme- 
diate successors  of  those  who  were  {^reserved  in  the  ark, 
when,  from  the  works  of  creation,  the  teachings  of 
Noah,  and  the   institutions   of  revealed  religion,  they 


IX   MOSES   AND   THE   PROPHETS.  307 

knew  God,  glorified  him  not  as  God,  neither  were 
thankful,  but  became  vain  in  their  imaginations,  and 
their  foolish  heart  was  darkened.  Professing  them- 
selves to  be  wise,  they  became  fools,  and  changed  the 
glory  of  the  incorruptible  God — misrepresented  his  in- 
visible attributes,  eternal  power  and  Godhead,  and  the 
glory  of  his  perfections,  visibly  displayed  in  his  works 
of  creation  and  providence — by  an  image  made  like  to 
corruptible  men,  and  to  birds,  and  four-footed  beasts 
and  creeping  things;  and  changed  the  truth  concerning 
God  into  a  lie,  and  worshipped  and  served  the  creature 
rather  than  the  Creator,  who  is  blessed  for  ever.  There- 
fore, even  as  they  did  not  like  to  retain  the  true  God  in 
their  knowledge,  he  gave  them  over,  in  his  righteous 
judgment,  to  a  reprobate  mind,  to  the  indulgence  of 
their  evil  propensities  under  the  instigation  of  their 
chosen  leader,  "  the  Devil,  who  deceiveth  the  whole 
world;"  assuming  to  be,  and  usurping  the  place  of, 
God;  leading  his  deluded  followers  "captive  at  his  will," 
and  foreshowing,  by  their  condition  and  conduct  on 
earth,  their  ultimate  doom,  as  the  final  destiny  of  the 
angels  who  kept  not  their  first  estate  is  manifested  by 
their  conduct  while  under  sentence  of  condemnation 
prior  to  the  final  .judgment. 

Throughout  the  history  of  this  antagonism  as  re- 
corded in  the  Old  Testament,  the  great  question  was* 
Who  is  the  true  God,  the  Creator,  Ruler,  Benefactor,  to 
whom  all  creatures  owe  allegiance — Jehovah  or  the 
Baal?  This  question  was  specially  and  publicly  tried 
on  various  occasions,  as  in  the  plagues  of  Egypt,  in  the 
controversy  conducted  by  Elijah,  in  that  relating  to  the 
image  erected  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  and  many  others  of 
less  notoriety.  In  several  scores  of  instances  it  is  the 
declared  purpose  of  particular  dispensations  and  events 


308  THE   MESSIAH 

that  those  to  whom  they  referred  might  be  made  to 
know  that  He,  the  true  God,  in  opposition  to  the  Baal, 
was  Jehovah.  And  such,  at  the  final  termination  of 
the  conflict,  will  be  the  resistless  and  universal  convic- 
tion: "every  knee  shall  bow,  and  every  tongue  confess 
that  Jesus  Christ  is  Lord  to  the  glory  of  God  the  Father." 
Having,  in  his  official  character  and  complex  Person, 
maintained  the  conflict  throughout  all  the  periods  and 
in  all  the  forms  of  its  exhibition,  vanquished  the  great 
Adversary,  redressed  the  consequences  of  the  fall,  and 
destroyed  even  death  itself,  his  triumph  is  complete  and 
final ;  vindicating  all  his  offices  and  agenc}7,  establish- 
ing the  facts  and  doctrines,  prerogatives  and  rights  upon 
which  his  government  is  founded-,  securing  for  ever  the 
loyalty  and  bliss  of  the  unfallen  and  ransomed  portions 
of  his  empire,  and  filling  the.  universe  with  the  glory  of 
his  person  and  his  name,  and  with  the  boundless  riches 
of  his  wisdom,  grace  and  love.  Then  will  be  displayed 
the  vastness  and  grandeur  of  the  scheme  purposed  in 
Christ  Jesus  before  the  foundation  of  the  world,  and  in- 
volving this  conflict  between  the  Divine  Mediator  and 
the  Arch-rebel  and  his  party,  that  through  the  redemp- 
tion, resurrection,  and  final  exaltation  and  glory  of  the 
Church,  the  Divine  perfections  might  be  made  known 
to  the  unfallen,  the  principalities  and  powers  in  heavenly 
places. 

The  chief  question  which  remains  concerning  this 
antagonism,  relates  to  the  manner  of  its  termination — 
the  means  and  agencies  by  which  it  is  to  be  ended. 
That  it  is  to  end,  there  is  no  doubt.  That  it  is  to  termi- 
nate in  such  a  manner  as  to  fill  the  universe  with  new 
and  previously  inconceivable  demonstrations  of  the  ma- 
jesty, power,  and  glory  of  the  Messiah,  and  his  people 
with   unprecedented   exultation,  joy,   and  praise,   the 


IN  MOSES   AND   THE   PROPHETS.  309 

Scriptures  abundantly  testify.  But  from  a  period  shortly- 
subsequent  to  that  of  his  ascension,  there  has  been  a 
difference  of  opinion  in  the  Church — more  or  less  con- 
spicuous at  all  times,  but  never,  perhaps,  more  marked 
than  at  present — concerning  this  great  question.  That 
difference  of  opinion,  on  the  part  of  the  great  majority 
even  in  the  Protestant  churches,  is  believed  to  be 
founded  in  the  Rabbinical  and  figurative  interpretations 
of  the  Old  Testament,  formerly  referred  to;  and  to 
include  among  its  principal  elements  a  very  defective 
estimate  of  those  sacred  oracles,  and  an  inadequate  and 
erroneous  view  of  their  teachings  concerning  the  Person, 
titles,  prerogatives,  manifestations,  works  and  purposes 
of  Christ. 

On  a  point  of  this  nature  and  importance,  one  might 
safely  infer  from  the  analogy  of  the  past,  whether  argu- 
ing from  the  history  of  the  Jewish  or  that  of  the  nom- 
inally Christian  Church,  that  the  party  composing  the 
great  majority  were  not  in  the  right.  It  is  presumed 
to  be  quite  safe  to  say,  that  at  every  period  of  any  con- 
siderable extent  of  the  Jewish  Church,  after  its  estab- 
lishment in  Canaan,  and  more  especially  after  the  reign 
of  Solomon,  the  majority,  notwithstanding  the  writings 
of  Moses  and  the  instructions  of  the  prophets,  were 
under  great  delusion  and  error  respecting  the  Messiah 
and  his  kingdom  ;  and  at  the  Advent,  those  who  were  in 
the  right  were  few  in  number  compared  with  the  busy 
scribes,  the  ostentatious  Pharisees,  and  those  doctors  of 
the  law  who,  sitting  in  Moses'  seat,  taught  the  traditions 
and' commandments  of  men.  And  of  what  consider- 
able division  of  the  nominally  Christian  Church,  from 
the  second  century  to  the  Reformation,  will  any  one 
affirm  that  a  great  majority  were  not  under  deep  delu- 
sion and  error  in  respect  to  important  points  of  doctrine 


310  THE   MESSIAH 

and  practice  ?  Or  of  the  Romish  Church  before  or  since 
the  Reformation,  will  any  one,  not  a  Papist,  say  that  it 
has  not  held  flagrant  and  astounding  errors  concerning 
the  offices  and  prerogatives  of  Christ,  as  Prophet,  Priest, 
and  King,  the  one  only  Mediator,  Lawgiver,  and  Head 
of  his  people  ? 

Can  it  be  presumptuous,  then,  to  suppose  that  the 
great  majority  in  the  Protestant  churches  are  in  error  in 
holding  that  this  antagonism  is  to  terminate  without 
any  further  visible  personal  manifestations  of  Jehovah, 
the  Messenger  incarnate  ;  that  the  usurping  Adversary, 
whose  domination  over  the  race  prior  to  the  deluge  was 
checked  by  that  catastrophe  only  till  fitting  subjects  of 
his  delusions  reappeared,  and  whose  sway  over  the 
Pa°;an,  Mohammedan  and  Roman  world  has,  with  occa- 
sional  change  of  forms  and  names,  continued  substan- 
tially intact,  is  to  be  vanquished  and  driven  from  the 
scene  solely  by  moral  and  spiritual  influence ;  that  the 
system  of  idolatry  which  has,  from  the  call  of  Abraham 
to  the  present  hour,  subjected  most  of  the  race  to  all 
the  evils  and  miseries  of  sin  which  are  possible  to 
human  beings  in  the  present  life ;  which  has  been  the 
organized  medium  and  embodiment  of  rebellion  against 
their  rightful  Sovereign,  of  denial  of  his  claims,  and  of 
studied  provocation  and  affront;  and  which  has  with- 
stood so  many  public  and  visible  shocks  and  terrors  of 
his  wrath  and  power,  is  at  length  to  yield  and  quietly 
disappear  without  any  further  visible  demonstrations  of 
his  supremacy,  or  public  vindications  of  his  righteous- 
ness? 

Is  there  any  thing  more  unlikely  in  the  supposition 
that  a  misconstruction  of  the  prophecies  relating  to  the 
period  and  objects  of  the  second  advent  should  prevail 
and  be  pertinaciously  adhered  to  by  many,  than  in  the 


IN   MOSES   AND    THE    PROPHETS.  311 

historical  fact  that  the  Jews  and  Jewish  doctors  mis- 
construed those  prophecies  relating  to  the  period  and 
objects  of  the  first  advent,  which,  to  the  faithful  in  the 
Gentile  Church,  have  ever  appeared  unmistakably 
plain  and  definitive? 

If  such  misconstruction  and  error  do  not  prevail  with 
the  generality  of  Protestants,  it  is  the  first  time  in  the 
history  of  the  world  that  the  multitude,  in  opposition  to 
the  few  on  such  a  question,  have  held  the  true  meaning 
of  the  Scriptures.  If  they  do  prevail,  they  will  as- 
suredly be  renounced  at  least  by  the  true  worshippers. 
Their  teachers  and  guides  will  cease  to  be  of  those 
who  regard  the  Old  Testament  as  a  shadowy  myth,  all 
figurative  with  reference  to  the  future,  all  obsolete  in 
relation  to  the  past — creation  resolved  into  primordial 
elements  and  physical  laws,  or  superseded  by  the 
chronology  of  sediment  and  fossil  bones — and  miracles . 
explained  away  as  inconsistent  with  rationalism  and 
with  the  course  of  nature.  On  the  other  hand,  the  de- 
scendants of  Israel  will  recognize  the  Messiah  in  Jesus 
of  Nazareth ;  the  veil  which,  on  their  reading  of  Moses, 
is  on  their  hearts,  will  be  taken  away,  and  the  tabernacle 
of  David,  which  is  fallen  down,  will  be  reelected ;  and 
Jesus  the  Messiah,  Adonai,  Jehovah  the  Messenger,  will 
come  and  reign  as  Priest  and  King  upon  his  throne  for 
ever  and  ever. 

In  their  defection  to  idolatry,  the  Messiah,  the  Mes- 
senger Jehovah,  became  an  offense  to  Israel.  They 
ceased  to  seek  salvation,  righteousness,  justification  by 
faith  in  him,  and  trusted  to  the  works  of  the  law. 
They  stumbled  at  him  as  a  stumbling-stone  and  rock  of 
offense.  But  have  they  so  stumbled  and  fallen  as  to  be 
utterly  cut  off  ?  Far  be  it !  Eather,  through  their  fall 
salvation  came  to  the  Gentiles.     And  if  their  fall  was 


312  THE   MESSIAH 

followed  and  counteracted  by  such  benefits,  what  shall 
their  recovery  be  but  life  from  the  dead  ?  If  on  their 
stock,  decayed  and  rejected  through  unbelief,  the  Gentiles 
as  a  wild  olive  were  engrafted,  God  is  able  to  engraft 
them  again  into  their  own  olive  tree.  If  blindness  of 
heart  hath  befallen  Israel,  it  is  only  till  the  fulness  of 
the  Gentiles  be  come  in ;  and  then  all  Israel  will  be 
saved.  "As  it  is  written,  There  shall  come  out  of  Zion 
the  Deliverer,  and  shall  turn  away  ungodliness  from 
Jacob :  For  this  is  my  covenant  unto  them  when  I  shall 
take  away  their  sins.  As  concerning  the  gospel,  they 
are  enemies  for  the  Gentiles'  sake  ;  but  as  touching  the 
election,  they  are  beloved  for  the  fathers'  sakes.  For  the 
gifts  and  calling  of  God  are  without  repentance.  For 
as  in  times  past  [before  the  Messiah  came]  the  Gentiles 
believed  not,  but  on  his  coming  obtained  mercy  because 
.  of  the  unbelief  of  Israel ;  so  Israel  now  continues  dis- 
obedient to  the  mercy  shown  to  the  Gentiles,  that 
through  their  mercy  Israel  also  may  obtain  mercy ; 
that  God  may  have  mercy  upon  all.  O  the  depth  of 
the  riches  both  of  the  wisdom  and  knowledge  of  God ! 
how  unsearchable  are  his  judgments,  and  his  ways  past 
finding  out!  For  who  hath  known  the  mind  of  the 
Lord  ?  or  who  hath  been  his  counsellor  ?  or  who  hath 
first  given  to  him,  and  it  shall  be  recompensed  unto 
him  again  ?  For  of  him,  and  through  him,  and  to  him 
arc  all  things;  to  whom  be  glory  for  ever.  Amen." 
Komans  xi. 

Behold  then,  descendants  of  Israel,  the  Lamb  of  God 
who  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world!  Behold  in 
Jesus  the  Christ,  the  Messiah  whom  your  fathers  cruci- 
fied and  pierced!  Look  to  the  Messenger  Jehovah, 
who,  when  the  race  in  their  primeval  representative  fell 
from  the  estate  wherein  they  were  created,  yielding  to 


IN   MOSES  AND  THE   PROPHETS.  313 

the  will  of  the  great  Adversary,  renouncing  their  allegi- 
ance to  God,  and  becoming  heirs  of  his  wrath  and  con- 
demnation, took  their  place  as  their  representative  and 
substitute,  entered  the  lists  as  their  champion,  assumed 
the  responsibility  of  encountering,  counteracting,  and 
finally  subduing,  vanquishing,  and  triumphing  over 
their  destroyer,  and  by  suffering  in  their  stead,  of  res- 
cuing, sanctifying,  and  raising  from  the  dead  all  who  by 
faith  receive,  trust,  love,  and  obey  him ;  the  God-man, 
the  only  Mediator,  to  whom,  as  Prophet,  Priest,  and  King 
of  Zion,  King  of  Kings  and  Lord  of  Lords,  every  knee 
must  bow,  and  every  tongue  confess  that  He  is  Jehovah. 


14 


314  THE   MESSIAH 


NOTE  A,  p.#g5.,Z/7? 

Instead  of  tracing  the  illustrations  thus  furnished, 
or  making  the  requisite  citations,  the  writer  can  barely 
refer  to  them,  and  express,  as  far  as  may  be  fitting,  his 
opinion  of  that  work  as  an  exposition,  upon  clear  and 
indubitable  principles,  of  a  portion  of  the  sacred  oracles 
previously  sealed  and  unintelligible,  to  the  opening  of 
which  no  clew  had  been  discovered,  and  towards  a  reli- 
able or  satisfactory  explanation  of  which,  no  progress 
had  been  made.     And  he  cannot  forbear  to  speak  of  it, 
even  at  the  hazard  of  being  supposed  to  have  a  motive 
inferior  to  that  of  impartial  admiration  of  the  work,  as 
opening  to  the  view  a  clear  vision  of  the  inner  sanc- 
tuary, and  vividly  portraying  the  scenes,  the  agencies, 
and  the  events  of  the  last  great  act  of  the  drama  begun 
in  Eden;  and  as  surpassing  all  other  efforts  towards  an 
exposition  of  any  portion  of  the  prophetic  oracles,  in 
the  scriptural  authority  of  its  principles,  the  loftiness 
and  grandeur  of  its  conceptions,  the  adequacy  of  its 
representations  of  the  Person,  titles,  offices,  prerogatives, 
agency,  purposes,  dominion  and  glory  of  Jehovah  the 
Incarnate  Word;  the  luminousness  of  its  descriptions, 
the  relevancy  of  its  proofs  and  illustrations,  the  clear- 
ness and  brevity  of  its  style,  the  absence  of  e\ery  thing 
not  pertinent,  and  the  exhibition  of  every  thing  requisite 
to   an  exposition  of  "  The  Revelation  of  Jesus  Christ 
which  God  gave  unto  him  to  show  unto  his  servants." 
Such  being  the  character  of  the  work,  it  can  occa- 
sion no  surprise  to  those  who  consider  the  reigning  no- 
tions and  prejudices  of  the  times  concerning  the  import 


IN   MOSES  AND   THE   PROPHETS.  CI. 5 

of  some  of  the  symbols,  that  it  should  be  neglected  by 
the  many.  It  overturns  prevailing  theories  and  fixed 
opinions.  Had  it,  with  no  settled  .rules  of  interpreta- 
tion, followed  the  beaten  track,  in  conformity  with  those 
theories  and  opinions ;  its  accurate  scholarship,  its 
thorough  acquaintance  with  preceding  authors,  with  the 
records,  institutions,  import,  and  bearings  of  the  earlier 
dispensations,  with  ancient  and  modern  history,  with 
the  Greek  and  Latin  Fathers,  and  with  collateral 
branches  of  literature  and  sources  of  illustration,  would 
have  insured  it  the  ready  suffrage  of  the  learned  and 
the  public. 

But  it  is  from  beginning  to  end  an  innovation. 
Instead  of  being  an  echo  of  prior  expositions,  it  is 
wholly  original.  Instead  of  being  a  version  of  the  con- 
jectures and  fancies  of  others,  without  settled  and  uni- 
form principles  of  exposition,  it  differs  from  them  very 
much  as  astronomy  differs  from  astrology.  It  is  based 
upon  axioms  and  rules  which  are  well  defined,  and  of 
certain  and  universal  application  to  the  subjects  to  which 
they  relate.  It  lays  down  what  no  prior  exposition 
ever  attempted,  "The  Laws  of  Symbolic  Kepresenta- 
tion ;"  and  by  a  rigid  and  consistent  adherence  to  those 
laws,  as  by  a  process  of  inductive  demonstration,  brings 
out  intelligibly  to  the  reader  the  meaning  of  the  suc- 
cessive symbols  :  in  each  instance  illustrating  and  con- 
firming the  exposition  by  references  to  history,  and  con- 
trasting it  with  the  views  advanced  by  preceding  writers. 
These  laws  of  symbolic  representation  are  neither  less 
evidently  founded  in  the  nature  of  that  mode  of  reve- 
lation, nor  less  essential  as  a  clew  to  its  meaning,  than 
are  the  common  rules  of  grammar  in  relation  to  ordinary 
literal  language ;  and  they  are  accordingly  sanctioned, 
and  their  reality  and  truthfulness  are  demonstrated  by 


316  THE   MESSIAH 

numerous  references  to  inspired  expositions  of  pro- 
phetic symbols. 

A  revelation  by  symbol  is  not  a  statement  or  descrip- 
tion in  words  of  what  is  foreshown,  but  a  representative 
exhibition  in  a  visible  form  ;  as  for  example  of  a  living 
agent,  with  certain  known  natural  characteristics,  and 
certain  official  insignia  or  other  accompaniments,  be- 
tween which  agent,  so  depicted  in  its  appropriate  attitude 
and  sphere  of  action,  and  the  agent  or  class  of  agents 
of  a  different  nature  and  sphere  of  action  which  is  repre- 
sented and  foreshown,  there  are  such  resemblances  and 
analogies  as  to  render  the  first  an  expressive  and  fitting 
representative  of  the  other.  Thus  the  beast  described 
Eev.  xiii.  as  emerging  from  the  sea,  having  seven  heads 
and  ten  horns,  and  upon  his  horns  ten  crowns,  and  upon 
his  heads  the  names  of  blasphemy ;  his  body  being  like 
a  leopard,  his  feet  like  those  of  a  bear,  and  his  mouth 
as  that  of  a  lion ;  is  described  chap.  xvii.  as  representing 
by  its  seven  heads,  seven  kings,  dynasties,  or  forms  of 
executive  power  in  the  Roman  Empire  prior  to  its  divi- 
sion ;  and  by  its  ten  horns  ten  kings  which  as  yet  had 
received  no  kingdom ;  the  ten  kings,  namely,  between 
whom  the  western  empire  was  to  be  divided,  and  who, 
with  the  relentless  ferocity  of  lions,  bears  and  leopards, 
were  by  persecution  and  otherwise  to  make  war  with  the 
Lamb.  So  in  the  vision  of  Daniel,  chap,  viii.,  the  ram 
with  two  horns  is  declared  to  represent  the  Kings  of 
Media  and  Persia;  and  the  goat  with  one  horn,  the 
King  of  Grecia. 

These  examples  illustrate  the  laws  of  symbolic  re- 
presentation with  reference  to  one  class  of  symbols; 
and  with  respect  to  those  symbols  of  which  there  is  no 
inspired  explanation,  the  expositor,  under  the  control 
and  guidance  of  those  laws,  is  liable  to  no  mistake, 


IN   MOSES  AND   THE   PROPHETS.  317 

unless  it  be  in  his  inadequate  discernment  of  analogies 
and  erroneous  selection  of  agents,  events,  or  other 
phenomena,  instead  of  those  intended  to  be  foreshown, 
and  in  which  congruity  with  the  characteristics  and 
adjuncts  of  the  symbol,  harmony  with  other  Scriptures 
and  predictions,  and  correspondence  with  historical 
events  and  testimonies  are  confidently  to  be  expected. 
If  the  reader  can  imagine  any  thing  of  the  awe  and 
wonder  which  overwhelmed  the  apostle  in  his  visions, 
when,  in  his  station  on  the  apocalyptic  earth  or  in  the 
heavenly  sanctuary,  he  beheld  the  glorified  Person  of 
his  Lord  in  the  effulgence  of  his  Deity,  seated  on  a  throne, 
from  which,  as  at  Sinai,  proceeded  lightnings  and  thun- 
derings  and  voices,  and  around  which  were  exhibited  the 
representative  and  triumphant  witnesses  and  trophies 
of  his  redemptive  work ;  and  beheld  that  Person  sym- 
bolizing himself  in  his  aspect  and  relations  as  incarnate, 
"  a  Lamb,  standing  as  slain ;"  and  saw,  as  on  the  revolv- 
ing canvas  of  a  panorama,  when  the  seals  were  opened, 
the  symbolic  forms  emerging  into  view  one  after  an- 
other, each  by  its  representative  character  revealing,  as 
in  cipher,  the  agents  and  events  of  its  future  appropri- 
ate and  peculiar  department ;  and  witnessed  the  pheno- 
mena of  revolutions,  tempests,  earthquakes,  darkness, 
fire  and  blood,  foreshown  under  the  sounding  of  the 
trumpets ;  and  successively  the  slaughter  and  resurrec- 
tion of  the  witnesses,  the  war  of  Michael  and  the  Dra- 
gon, the  emergence  of  the  ten-horned  wild  beast,  the 
rise  and  career  of  the  two-horned  wild  beast  and  false 
prophet,  the  harvest  and  vintage  of  the  earth,  the  pour- 
ing out  upon  the  earth  of  the  plagues  of  the  seven 
vials  of  the  wrath  of  God,  the  fall  and  destruction  of 
great  Babylon,  and  the  ensuing  scenes  of  wonder  and 
glory,  retribution  and  judgment,  thanksgiving  and  tri- 


318  THE   MESSIAH 

urnph,  he  may  in  some  degree  conceive  the  effect  of 
converting  the  enigmatical  portraitures  of  this  pano- 
rama into  intelligible  literal  language,  assigning  each  to 
its  relative  and  historical  position,  and  reflecting  on  the 
version  the  light  of  earlier  revelations,  that  of  ecclesias- 
tical and  secular  history,  and  in  a  large  degree,  in  re- 
spect to  the  past,  that  of  unmistakable  events. 

It  is  in  respect  to  the  result,  as  compared  with  that  of 
preceding  efforts,  like  Daniel's  interpretation  of  Nebu- 
chadnezzar's dream,  compared  with  the  fruitless  endea- 
vors of  the  magicians,  astrologers,  and  Chaldeans  of 
Babylon ;  or  like  the  finally  successful  effort  to  read 
the  hieroglyphics  of  Egypt,  compared  with  the  fruitless 
attempts,  bewildering  theories,  and  abortive  labors  of 
preceding  ages. 

Had  this  work  been  published  at  some  transition- 
period,  when  the  human  mind  was  freeing  itself  from 
erroneous  and  long-cherished  opinions ;  at  the  revival 
of  learning  in  Europe,  when  there  were  Luthers  and 
Calvins  to  welcome  it ;  or  in  England,  when  there  were 
Latimers  and  Eidleys,  Boyles  and  Newtons,  or  Owens 
and  Howes ;  or  in  this  country  at  the  period  of  Ed- 
wards, it  would  have  superseded  and  prevented  the  ex- 
positions to  which  it  is  opposed,  or  else  it  would  have 
been  answered  in  the  same  way  as  were  the  doctrines 
of  Galileo.  Such  men  under  their  circumstances  would 
not  have  been  content  to  say,  as  many  at  present  seem 
to  be:  " Though  we  consider  the  Apocalypse  a  part  of 
the  inspired  Word  of  God,  and  though  it  evidently 
relates  to  the  future  of  the  Church,  the  conduct  of  the 
redeemed  and  the  destruction  of  their  enemies,  and 
above  all  to  the  crowning,  ultimate  and  eternal  mani- 
festation of  the  Person,  prerogatives,  supremacy,  pro- 
phetical and  sacerdotal  works,  and  regal  majesty,  glory, 


IN   MOSES  AND  THE   PROPHETS.  319 

triumph  and  reign  of  Jesus  Christ ;  yet  we  neither  un- 
derstand it,  nor  believe  it  will  be  understood  in  advance 
of  its  issues ;  and  therefore  are  not  disposed  to  examine 
anything  new  upon  the  subject." 

But  the  transition  now  going  on  is  not  against,  but  in 
favor  of  ancient  and  erroneous  opinions.  It  is  retro- 
grade towards  Pelagianism,  Pantheism,  Neology,  Eo- 
manism,  and  among  the  best,  to  the  omnivorous  infec- 
tion of  infidel  Germanism.  The  partisans  of  these 
errors  desire  no  lights  but  such  as  are  reflected  from  the 
satellites  of  their  respective  systems.  In  those  exclu- 
sive and  dubious  lights,  each  is  secure  alike  against  the 
arguments  and  examples  of  every  other.  They  can 
controvert  the  doctrines  of  Scripture  and  those  of  each 
other  upon  all  disputed  points,  without  the  slightest 
danger  of  extorting  concessions  or  producing  convic- 
tion; for  no  two  of  them  see  the  same  thing  by  the 
same  light.  All  hope  and  expectation  of  defeating  or 
silencing  any  party  by  the  arguments  or  Scripture  cita- 
tions or  interpretations  of  another,  or  of  dislodging 
cherished  and  fixed  opinions  by  any  means  short  of  a 
universal  deluge,  or  an  annihilation  like  that  of  the 
Egyptians  by  the  Eed  Sea,  or  that  of  Sodom  and 
Gomorrha  by  fire,  is  given  up.  And  so  long  as  they 
nominally  agree  in  respect  to  certain  future  issues, 
towards  which  they  think  the  onward  course  of  things 
in  the  physical,  intellectual,  scientific,  mechanical,  social 
and  religious  world  is  wafting  them,  their  theories  and 
their  relative  positions  will  allow  them  fearlessly  to 
float  down  with  the  current,  without  having  in  advance 
even  the  light  of  a  moon.  There  is  a  Millennium  in 
prospect ;  a  vast,  undefmable  Mediterranean  of  some- 
thing better  than  the  present,  into  which  all  the  turbid 
streams  of  humanity  are  tending,  and  towards  which 


320  THE   MESSIAH 

the  preaching  of   the  gospel  to  all  nations   is  but   a 
tributary. 

The  aspect  of  things,  accordingly,  is  much  like  that  in 
the  days  of  Noah,  while  the  ark  was  preparing;  as  if 
Satan  were  already  bound,  and  no  deluge  of  wrath  or 
terrors  of  retribution  were  impending ;  and  as  if  with 
science  and  art,  ancient  relics  and  new  inventions,  gold 
mines  and  traffic,  steam  and  electricity,  as  pioneers,  the 
Ethiopian  were  about  to  change  his  skin,  and  the  leopard 
his  spots,  the  wolf  to  lie  down  with  the  lamb,  and  the 
lion  to  eat  straw  like  the  ox.  The  more  startling  the 
events  of  Providence,  the  shattering  of  political  fabrics, 
the  exscision  and  restoration  of  dynasties,  the  revival  of 
Popish  arrogations  and  intolerance,  the  pitched  battle 
of  despotism  against  liberty,  the  more  sure  they  are  to 
be  construed  as  immediate  signals  of  the  universal  pre- 
valence and  triumph  of  human  hopes.  The  purple  and 
scarlet  robes  of  the  Babylonish  Sorceress  are  seemingly 
changed  to  vestal  whiteness,  as  gazed  at  through  the 
spectrum  of  discolored  glass,  or  seen  in  the  sepulchral, 
bewildering,  superstitious  twilight  of  Baalistic  tapers; 
while  the  murmurings  of  unearthly  music,  the  chantings 
and  mutterings  of  unintelligible  words,  and  the  spell  of 
imputed  and  pretended  mysteries,  subdue  the  victim 
to  whatever  the  spiritual  operator  may  prescribe  or 
denounce.  The  nations  in  the  four  quarters  of  the 
globe  seem  to  many  to  be  about  to  renounce  their  idol- 
atries, and  to  be  released  without  a  struggle  on  the  part 
of  Satan,  who  has  held  them  in  bondage  hitherto,  and  to 
be  arranging  to  assume  white  robes  and  take  their  sta- 
tions on  the  glass-like  expanse  before  the  throne.  The 
partisans  of  such  views  neither  realize  nor  believe  that 
there  is  any  thing  to  the  contrary  revealed  in  Scripture; 
or  if  there  is,  it  is  so  concealed  in  symbol  and  figure  as 


EST  MOSES  AND  THE   PROPHETS.  321 

to  preclude  its  being  understood  till  all  is  over.  And 
accordingly,  like  the  Pharisees  of  old,  who  scrupulously 
paid  tithes  of  mint  and  all  manner  of  herbs,  and  omitted 
the  weightier  matters  of  practical  righteousness,  faith, 
and  the  love  of  God,  they  resolve  religion  into  outward 
action,  the  love  of  God  into  eclectic  sympathy  with  his 
creatures,  and  faith  into  their  theory  of  particular  duties. 
Formerly,  in  religious  controversy,  there  was  some- 
thing positive  on  one  side,  against  which  an  opposing 
negative  was  asserted.  In  the  great  controversy  re- 
corded in  the  Bible,  the  supremacy  of  Jehovah  and  the 
authority  of  his  Word  were  explicitly  and  constantly 
affirmed  by  one  party,  and  as  directly  and  perseveringly 
denied  by  the  other ;  and  the  two  parties  were  there- 
fore broadly  and  unmistakably  distinguished.  But  at 
present  the  case  is  widely  different.  No  active  partisan, 
theological  or  scientific,  now  denies  the  existence  of  a 
Supreme  Being,  or  professes  to  disbelieve  the  Scrip- 
tures. All  claim  to  be  believers  in  God  and  in  the 
Bible.  What  they  differ  about  is  as  to  what  kind  of 
Being  that  is  whom  the}^  call  God ;  whether  personality 
is  one  of  his  attributes,  and  what  works  and  purposes 
are  to  be  ascribed  to  him :  and  as  to  what  the  Scrip- 
tures teach,  how  they  are  to  be  understood;  whether 
they  are  inspired  or  not ;  whether  they  are  all  typical, 
or  what  portion  or  whether  the  whole  of  them  is  in 
some  way  figurative  ;  whether  miracles  were  ever 
wrought ;  whether  the  Mosaic  account  of  the  creation  is 
to  be  understood  literally,  and  the  like.  And  if  there 
is  at  this  moment,  in  the  compass  of  the  world,  or  in 
the  Protestant  portion  of  it,  one  comprehensive  error, 
conspicuous  above  all  others,  it  is  that  of  inadequate, 
partial,  defective  apprehensions,  recognitions,  and  ac- 
knowledgments of  what  the  Scriptures  reveal  concern- 
14* 


322  THE   MESSIAH 

ing  the  Person,  prerogatives,  offices,  works,  dominion, 
triumph  and  glory  of  the  Messiah,  and  concerning  his 
yet  unended  conflict  with  the  Arch-apostate. 


IN   MOSES  AND  THE   PROPHETS.  323 


NOTEB,  p.  £».    2-<f 

The  primary  ground  or  reason  of  that  mediation,  in 
the  economy  of  the  universe,  which  is  affirmed  of  the 
one  Mediator  in  all  the  relations  of  God  to  the  World, 
is  the  infinite  difference  between  the  Deity  and  creatures 
in  nature,  attributes,  and  mode  of  existence  and  action; 
The  relations  implied  in  the  existence  and  agency  of 
creatures  are  such  as  cannot  be  conceived  to  subsist 
between  beings  so  diverse  in  all  respects  as  the  infinite 
and  finite,  except  through  an  intermediate  agent,  in  the 
constitution  of  whose  person  and  office  the  opposite 
extremes  are  united.  For  in  creating,  upholding,  and 
governing  finite  beings,  the  agency  of  the  Creator  and 
Euler  connects  itself  with  the  conditions  and  relations 
of  time  and  space;  the  conditions  and  relations  of 
matter ;  of  succession  of  thought,  feeling,  and  action  ; 
of  that  which  is  external,  visible,  limited;  that  which 
begins  and  ends. 

It  may  therefore  be  said,  that  in  the  nature  of  things 
such  mediation,  the  interposition  of  such  an  official 
Person,  is  necessary ;  and  accordingly  the  agency  of  the 
Mediator  in  those  relations  is  presupposed,  assumed,  or 
expressly  recognized,  throughout  the  Scriptures. 

In  this  system,  the  moral  government  which  is  ad- 
ministered by  the  Mediator  is  founded  on  the  perfections, 
prerogatives  and  rights  of  the  Deity  as  manifested  by 
him  in  the  works  of  creation,  providence  and  grace, 
and  applies  to  creatures  in  the  relations  which  they  sus- 
tain to  him. 

The  whole  is  therefore  a  system  of  manifestation ;  on 


324  THE   MESSIAH 

his  part  of  the  perfections  and  rights  of  the  Deity,  and 
on  theirs  of  holiness  and  happiness,  or  of  sin  and 
misery,  in  the  relations  in  which  they  exist.  In  the 
progress  of  this  system,  all  intelligent  creatures  will  be 
instructed  in  all  that  is  knowable  by  them  concerning 
the  Deity,  and  all  that  respects  themselves,  and  the 
nature,  tendency,  and  consequences  of  holiness  on  the 
one  hand,  and  of  apostasy  and  wickedness  on  the  other. 

The  Deity  thus  made  known  will,  by  the  holy,  the 
unfallen  and  redeemed,  be  eternally  reverenced,  su- 
premely loved,  and  exclusively  worshipped  and  obeyed ; 
his  rights  and  prerogatives  will  be  acknowledged,  and 
his  perfections  and  the  boundless  emanations  of  his 
goodness  be  regarded  with  ceaseless,  adoring,  grateful 
rapture  and  delight. 

In  the  administration  of  his  moral  government  over 
apostate  creatures,  and  in  their  future  punishment,  the 
Mediator's  sceptre  is  a  sceptre  of  perfect  righteousness. 

The  course  of  things  eventually  to  be  realized  on 
earth  will  be  such  as  would  have  taken  place  from  the 
beginning,  had  no  apostasy  occurred.  The  apostasy 
and  the  curse  on  man  and  the  earth  will  be  overcome. 
The  antagonism  between  the  Mediator  and  the  Adver- 
sary will  cease.  The  earth,  freed  from  the  curse  and 
from  all  enemies,  renovated,  restored  to  its  original 
beauty,  will  be  the  perpetual  scene  of  holiness  and 
happiness. 

Under  the  past  and  present  dispensations,  the  object 
has  been  to  do  away  the  consequences  of  the  fall  of  the 
first  Adam  as  head  of  the  race.  When  the  second 
Adam,  ("the  Lord  from  heaven,")  as  head  of  his  elect 
people,  shall  have  accomplished  this  at  his  second 
advent,  and  destroyed  all  enemies,  he  will  be  thenceforth 
the  head  of  the  race  for  ever. 


IN   MOSES  AND   THE   PROPHETS.  325 

The  apostasy  was  a  violation  of  preexisting  relations 
between  the  Creator  and  creatures.  The  victory  gained 
by  Satan  over  the  first  Adam  as  head  of  his  race  made 
him  as  much  master  of  that  Adam  and  his  descendants 
as  he  was  of  the  angels  who  joined  him  in  apostasy. 
By  that  victory  he  had  the  power  of  death.  Doubtless 
it  was  his  object  to  destroy,  as  to  the  purposes  and 
mode  of  existence  for  which  they  were  created,  the 
race  with  which,  by  the  constitution  of  his  official  Per- 
son, the  Mediator  was  connected  ;  and  thereby  to  defeat 
him. 

The  victory  of  the  second  Adam  over  Satan,  utterly 
despoils  him  of  all  he  had  taken  from  the  first  Adam, 
destroys  all  his  works,  and  ends  in  the  destruction  of 
himself  and  all  enemies.  As  yet  the  results  are  but 
partially  manifested.  His  victory  as  man — the  victory 
of  that  nature  in  his  official  Person  which  had  been 
overthrown  in  Adam — was  achieved  by  his  triumph 
over  the  direct  personal  temptation  in  the  wilderness, 
and  by  his  death,  resurrection  and  ascension.  The  con- 
summation of  his  triumph  by  the  final  overthrow  and 
banishment  of  all  enemies,  in  which  his  Divine  attri- 
butes and  prerogatives  will  be  displayed,  is  yet  future. 

The  administration  of  the  Mediator  in  the  govern- 
ment of  this  world,  proceeds  upon  a  definite  and  intel- 
ligible plan.  It  is  one  scheme,  with  which  all  agencies 
and  events  are  connected,  and  of  which  the  consumma- 
tion is  distinctly  foretold.  The  Mediator  is,  from  the 
beginning  to  the  end,  the  Divine  Actor  and  Eevealer, 
the  Alpha  and  Omega,  first  and  last. 

From  the  date  of  the  apostasy  this  government  re- 
lates to  mankind  as  separated  into  two  classes  or  parties, 
the  loyal  and  the  rebellious.  The  result  of  the  first 
prolonged  trial  was  the  destruction  of  the  whole  race 


326  THE   MESSIAH 

as  rebellious  and  incorrigible,  Noah  and  bis  family 
excepted. 

On  the  apostasy  of  the  renewed  race,  shortly  after 
the  deluge,  to  the  impious  rival  system  of  idolatry, 
Abraham  was  called  to  be  the  head  of  a  separated  race, 
who,  by  a  system  of  external  and  risible  rites,  institu- 
tions, teachings,  services,  benefits  and  discipline,  were  to 
be  visibly — and  as  peculiarly  dealt  with,  in  contrast  with 
the  rest  of  the  world — the  loyal  party.  As  such,  the 
Mediator  was  personally  to  dwell  with  them  and  to 
exercise  his  offices,  and  rule  them  as  Priest  and  King. 

He  accordingly,  having  brought  the  children  of  Israel 
into  the  wilderness  of  Sinai,  entered,  prior  to  the  giving 
of  the  Law,  into  a  formal  covenant  with  them,  as  re- 
corded in  Exodus  xix :  "  Jehovah  called  unto  Moses 
out  of  the  mountain,  saying,  Thus  shalt  thou  say  to 
the  house  of  Jacob,  and  tell  the  children  of  Israel ; 
Ye  have  seen  what  I  did  unto  the  Egyptians,  and  how 
I  bare  you  on  eagles'  wings,  and  brought  you  unto 
myself.  Now  therefore,  if  ye  will  obey  my  voice  indeed, 
and  keep  my  covenant,  then  ye  shall  be  a  peculiar  trea- 
sure unto  me  above  all  people ;  (for  all  the  earth  is 
mine ;)  and  ye  shall  be  unto  me  a  kingdom  of  priests, 
and  a  holy  nation."  Moses  rehearsed  these  terms  to 
the  people:  "And  all  the  people  answered  together, 
and  said,  All  that  Jehovah  hath  spoken  we  will  do. 
And  Moses  returned  the  words  of  the  people  unto 
Jehovah." 

During  the  trial  under  this  covenant,  the  other  nations 
were  governed  and  dealt  with  as  in  a  state  of  total  and 
avowed  rebellion,  under  condemnation,  and  obnoxious 
to  the  demands  of  justice.  Pursuant  to  this  system,  the 
nations  of  Canaan  were  first  destroyed.  After  Egypt, 
Assyria  was  for  a  long  time  the  head  of  the  rebellious 


IN  MOSES  AND  THE   PKOPHETS.  327 

party  ;  then  Babylon,  and  subsequently  the  four  empires 
predicted  in  Daniel. 

All  the  nations  and  governments  of  that  party  were 
idolatrous.  This  was  the  leading  feature  in  their  cha- 
racter as  apostates  and  rebels.  And  to  this,  by  their 
relations  to  them,  the  Israelities  were  constantly  in- 
stigated. 

The  Messenger  Jehovah,  having  executed  judgment 
upon  Egypt,  and  brought  the  children  of  Israel  into 
the  wilderness  of  Sinai,  appeared  on  the  top  of  the 
mount  in  the  brightness  of  lightnings,  and  with  the 
voice  of  a  trumpet  which  shook  the  mountain.  The 
people,  who,  after  witnessing  the  wonders  of  Egypt  and 
of  the  Red  Sea,  had  exhibited  a  murmuring  and  rebel- 
lious spirit,  were  impressed  and  awed  by  this  manifesta- 
tion, while  the  Law  of  the  Ten  Commandments  was 
announced.  "  They  removed  and  stood  afar  off.  And 
they  said  unto  Moses,  Speak  thou  with  us,  and  we 
will  hear ;  but  let  not  Elohim  speak  with  us,  lest  we  die. 
And  Moses  said  unto  the  people,  Fear  not ;  for  the 
Elohim  is  come  to  prove  you,  and  that  his  fear  may  be 
before  your  faces,  that  ye  sin  not.  And  the  people  stood 
afar  off,  and  Moses  drew  near  unto  the  thick  darkness 
where  the  Elohim  was.  And  Jehovah  said  unto 
Moses,  Thus  thou  shalt  say  unto  the  children  of  Israel, 
Ye  have  seen  that  I  have  talked  with  you  from  heaven. 
Ye  shall  not  make  Avith  me  Elohe  of  silver,  neither 
shall  ye  make  unto  you  Elohe  of  gold.  An  altar  of 
earth  thou  shalt  make  unto  me,  and  shalt  sacrifice 
thereon  thy  burnt  offerings  and  thy  peace  offerings.  .  .  . 
in  all  places  where  I  record  my  name  I  will  come 
unto  thee,  and  I  will  bless  thee."     Exod.  xx. 

Thus,  at  the  outset  of  this  trial,  under  the  most  appal- 
ling tokens  of  his  presence,  Jehovah  reiterates  the  pro- 


328  THE   MESSIAH 

hibition  expressed  in  the  first  two  commandments 
against  idolatry.  Among  the  judicial  laws  prescribed 
at  the  same  time  with  the  moral,  there  is  one  making 
idolatry  a  civil  offense,  to  be  punished  with  death. 
"  He  that  sacrificeth  unto  any  Elohim,  save  unto  Jehovah 
only,  he  shall  be  utterly  destroyed."  Exodus  xxii.  20. 
Again  (xxiii.  13)  they  are  enjoined  to  "make  no  men- 
tion of  the  name  of  any  other  Elohim :"  and  subse- 
quently in  the  same  chapter  they  are  commanded  not 
to  bow  down  to  the  Elohim  of  the  nations  of  Canaan, 
but  to  overthrow  them  and  break  down  their  images. 

Moses  having  written  out  the  moral  and  judicial  laws 
thus  far  prescribed,  the  people  consented  to  them  and 
promised  obedience ;  and  having  built  an  altar,  aud 
"twelve  pillars,  according  to  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel," 
he  offered  sacrifices,  read  the  book  of  the  covenant, 
and  ratified  it  by  sprinkling  blood  on  the  people. 
Exod.  xxiv. 

After  this  proceeding,  Moses  with  the  elders  ascended 
the  mount,  where,  after  an  extraordinary  personal 
manifestation  of  Jehovah,  the  Elohe  of  Israel,  the 
ceremonial  law  was  prescribed.  Nearly  forty  days  hav- 
ing elapsed,  the  people,  impatient  at  Moses'  absence,  in- 
stigated Aaron  to  make  them  a  molten  image — a  golden 
calf.  This  being  done  under  pretense  that  the  image 
represented  Jehovah,  "  they  said,  This  is  thy  Elohe,  O 
Israel,  which  brought  thee  up  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt." 
Aaron  built  an  altar  before  it,  and  appointed  "a  feast 
to  Jehovah ;  and  upon  the  altar  they  offered  burnt 
offerings  and  peace  offerings."    Exod.  xxxii. 

For  this  audacious  treason  and  unbelief,  about  three 
thousand  men  were  slain  :  soon  after  which,  Jehovah 
made  a  covenant  with  the  people,  promising  to  drive 
out  the  Canaanites  before   them,    and  renewedly  en- 


IN   MOSES  AND  THE   PROPHETS.  329 

joining  them  to  break  their  images  and  destroy  their 
altars  and  groves.  Chap,  xxxiv. 

The  tabernacle  having  been  erected  and  offerings 
made  according  to  the  ritual,  "  There  came  a  fire  out 
from  before  Jehovah,  and  consumed  upon  the  altar  the 
burnt  offering,  .  .  .  which  when  all  the  people  saw,  they 
shouted  and  fell  on  their  faces."  Leviticus  ix.  On  this 
occasion  two  of  the  priests,  Nadab  and  Abihu,  sons  of 
Aaron,  in  the  spirit  of  the  Egyptian  idolatry,  burnt 
incense  with  strange  fire,  i.e.,  such  as  idolaters  used : 
"And  there  went  out  fire  from  Jehovah  and  devoured 
them,  and  they  died  before  Jehovah."     Levit.  x. 

The  constant  recurrence  of  reproof,  instruction  and 
prediction,  in  the  historical  and  prophetic  writings  of 
the  Old  Testament,  proceeds  from  the  nature  of  that 
dispensation,  the  conduct  of  the  people  under  it,  and 
the  manner  of  its  final  consummation. 

The  dispensation  was  one  of  outward  and  visible 
manifestation,  discipline,  trial,  prefiguration  and  hope  ; 
disobedience  under  it  was  acted  out  visibly  in  idolatry 
and  all  practical  abominations.  Eeproofs  were  uttered 
according  to  actual  circumstances,  having  respect  to 
present  actual  wickedness. 

A  leading  feature  of  that  dispensation  was  that  of 
the  personal,  local,  visible  appearances  and  interpositions 
of  the  Mediator.  The  tendencies  and  results  of  the 
dispensation  were  thwarted  and  delayed  by  the  idolatry 
and  wickedness  of  the  people.  The  predictions,  founded 
in  the  nature  and  design  of  that  visible  economy,  looked 
forward  to  the  circumstances,  agencies  and  results 
which  were  to  fulfil,  complete  and  vindicate  the  nature 
and  original  design  of  the  economy. 

Hence  the  humiliation  and  vicarious  sufferings  of  the 
Mediator,  and  the  glory  of  his  ultimate  manifestations, 


330  THE  MESSIAH 

• 
judgments  and  triumph,  are  the  prominent  topics  of 

prophetic  announcement ;  and  the  latter  chiefly,  as  more 

in  keeping  with  the  analogy  of  the  past,  and  as  being 

ultimate  and  perfect.    By  the  things  thus  predicted,  the 

thwarted  and  delayed  purposes  and  tendencies  of  the 

dispensation  were  to  be  adequately  provided  for,  and 

rendered  effective  by  the  foreseen  intervention  of  the 

agency  and  power  of  the  Mediator  in  his  incarnate  state. 

The  prophets  accordingly  pass  from  the  circumstances 

which  gave  rise  to  their  predictions  to  the  circumstances 

and  events  of  their  fulfilment  by  the  Mediator  in  his 

future  visible  manifestations. 

It  was,  for  example,  provided  in  the  Mosaic  economy 
that  the  loyalty  and  obedience  of  the  Israelites  should 
have  a  trial  under  the  government  of  the  Mediator  as 
King;  as  Priest  and  King  on  his  throne  in  the  taber- 
nacle. Being  thus  perfectly  protected  and  provided  for, 
they  had  every  facility  and  every  inducement  to  be 
loyal  and  obedient.  But  they  rebelled  and  rejected 
him  as  King. 

At  length  they  desired  and  solicited  a  human  chief- 
tain as  king,  after  the  manner  of  the  surrounding  na- 
tions. This  was  granted,  and  a  trial  made  under  vice- 
gerents in  the  persons  of  David  and  Solomon,  sitting  on 
the  throne  of  Jehovah,  as  rulers  in  his  place,  and  as 
types  of  his  kingly  office,  when  he  shall  at  the  latter  day 
visibly  resume  it. 

The  rejection  of  the  Mediator  as  King,  and  the  con- 
sequent interruption  and  final  discontinuance  of  the 
theocratic  administration,  gave  occasion  to  the  mission 
of  the  prophets  ;  the  earliest  of  whom,  Hosea,  prophe- 
sied in  the  reigns  of  Uzziah,  Jotham,  Ahaz  and  Heze- 
kiah,  about  800  years  before  Christ,  and  the  latest, 
Malachi,  about  440  B.C.     Hosea  flourished  about   180 


IN   MOSES   AND  THE   PKOPHETS.  331 

years  after  the  death  of  Solomon.  The  apostasy  of  all 
the  tribes  to  idol-worship  was  then  nearly  total.  The 
restoration  from  the  Babylonish  exile  having  resulted 
in  no  reformation,  both  Jews  and  Samaritans,  at  the  close 
of  Malachi's.  mission,  were,  like  the  heathen  nations,  left 
to  themselves. 

The  prophets  and  true  worshippers  all  regarded  the 
separation  of  the  ten  tribes  as  an  apostasy  from  the 
theocratic  government,  the  seat  of  which  was  in  the 
temple,  and  the  representative  vicegerent  on  the  throne 
was  to  be  in  the  line  of  David. 

Elijah's  taking  twelve  stones,  according  to  the  num- 
ber of  the  tribes  of  Israel,  when  he  repaired  the  altar 
of  Jehovah  and  offered  acceptable  sacrifices,  showed 
that  he  considered  the  defection  of  the  ten  tribes  as  a 
rejection  of  Jehovah  as  Mediator.  1  Kings  xviii.  31. 
True  worship  was  to  be  offered,  in  conformity  with  the 
system  connected  with  the  temple 

The  reformation  under  Hezekiah  and  that  under 
Josiah  also  virtually  included,  in  respect  to  religion,  a 
reunion  of  all  the  tribes.  There  could  be  no  return  to 
Jehovah,  but  by  returning  to  the  temple  worship,  where 
He  as  Mediator  presided.  The  separation  of  the  ten 
tribes  was  equally  a  religious  and  a  civil  apostasy ;  for 
Jehovah,  as  Priest  and  King  on  his  throne,  was  at  once 
the  head  of  the  religious  and  civil  system.  Hence  the 
political  revolt  and  the  institution  of  a  rival  and  hostile 
civil  government,  was  necessarily  connected  with  the 
institution  of  a  rival  and  hostile  religious  system.  A 
political  revolt  necessarily  involved  a  religious  one; 
and  to  maintain  their  political  power  in  opposition  to 
that  of  the  line  of  David,  Jeroboam  and  his  successors 
found  it  necessary  to  render  the  separation  in  respect  to 
religion  as  wide  as  possible. 


332  THE   MESSIAH 

The  prophets  accordingly,  while  they  speak  of  the 
chiefs  of  the  revolted  tribes  as  kings,  in  conformity  with 
popular  usage,  never  recognize  them  as  such  of  right. 

To  effect  an  entire  religious  apostasy  as  a  means  of 
sustaining  the  political  revolt,  (1  Kings  xii.)  Jeroboam 
instituted  the  golden  calves,  under  pretense  of  their 
being  symbols,  representative  of  the  Jehovah,  and  in 
place  of  the  Shekina.  The  Levites  appear  to  have  re- 
fused to  concur  in  the  imposture  thus  attempted,  and 
being  exiled  as  likely  to  hinder  its  success.  Priests  to 
officiate  in  this  apostate  worship  were  selected  from  the 
lowest  of  the  people.  So  offensive  and  intolerable 
indeed  to  the  true  worshippers  was  this  apostasy, 
"that  the  priests,  and  the  Levites  that  were  in  all  Israel 
.  .  .  came  to  Judah  and  Jerusalem.  .  .  .  And  after 
them  out  of  all  the  tribes  of  Israel  such  as  set  their 
hearts  to  seek  Jehovah,  the  Elohe  of  Israel,  came  to 
Jerusalem  to  sacrifice  to  Jehovah,  the  Elohe  of  their 
fathers."  2  Chron.  xi.  13-16.  Jeroboam,  having  cast  off 
the  Levites,  "ordained  him  priests  for  the  high  places, 
and  for  the  devils,  and  for  the  calves  which  he  had 
made."     Ibid. 

The  government  of  the  ten  tribes  being  founded  in  a 
total  apostasy,  and  including  a  rival  and  hostile  system 
of  religion,  is  treated  accordingly  by  the  prophets  as  a 
rebellion.  As  a  rebellion,  it  could  not  dissolve  the 
relation  previously  established,  by  solemn  covenants, 
between  Jehovah,  as  Priest  and  King  on  his  throne  in 
the  tabernacle,  and  the  people  of  Israel.  That  relation 
could  be  dissolved  or  discontinued  on  his  part,  only  by 
such  events  as  afterwards  took  place  in  their  rejection 
and  exile.  In  the  meantime,  prophets  were  sent  to  them, 
and  various  dispensations  of  judgment  and  mercy  were 
employed  to  reclaim  them  from  their  idolatry  and 
wickedness* 


IN  MOSES   AND  THE   PEOPHETS.  333 

Such  is  the  point  of  view  in  which  the  Israelites  and 
their  kings  are  to  be  regarded  in  considering  the  lan- 
guage and  predictions  of  the  prophets.  Viewed  in 
this  light,  the  statements  respecting  their  apostate  con- 
dition, the  aggravations  of  their  wickedness,  the  judg- 
ments inflicted  on  them,  their  dispersion,  and  the  pre- 
dictions concerning  their  future  restoration  under  one 
head,  are  for  the  most  part  rendered  plain ;  while  the 
fact  that  they  revolted  from  the  Theocracy,  the  system 
of  local,  personal,  visible  manifestation  of  the  Mediator 
as  Priest  and  King,  is  the  manifest  ground  of  the  pre- 
dictions that,  in  due  time,  what  had  been  thwarted  and 
delayed  by  their  wickedness  will  be  resumed  and 
carried  into  effect  by  a  regathering  of  them  under  the 
Mediator  as  King,  in  his  incarnate  state  and  visible 
reign. 

Epoch. 


Note  C,  p.  21,  after  2d  paragraph. 

"  Sometimes  the  same  Divine  appearance  which  at  one 
time  is  called  Melach  Jehovah,  is  afterwards  called  sim- 
ply Jehovah,  as  in  Gen.  xvi.  7 ;  Col.  v.  13  ;  Exod.  iii.  2 ; 
Col.  iv.,  &c,  &c.  This  is  to  be  so  understood  that  the 
Angel  of  God  is  here  nothing  else  than  the  invisible 
Deity  itself,  which  thus  unveils  itself  to  mortal  eyes." 
And  after  referring  to  Michaelis  and  Tholuck,  "  Hence 
Oriental  translators,  as  Saadias,  Abusaides,  and  the 
Chaldeo-Samaritan,  wherever  Jehovah  himself  is  said 
to  appear  on  earth,  always  put  for  the  name  of  God, 
the  Angel  of  God."     Gesenius,  Lex.,  Art.  Melach. 


Tli.o   Messiali   i:o.   IMCqjsos;   and 
tlxo   Fropliets. 

Published  by  CHARLES   SCRIENER,  145  Nassau  Street. 


It  is  obvious  that  a  work  adapted  to  turn  the  Jewish  mind  to  Christi- 
anity, must  be  adapted  to  convince  the  descendants  of  Israel,  that  the 
Messiah  of  their  own  Scriptures  is  the  same  person  as  Jesus  of  Xazareth  ; 
and  consequently  that  the  Christ  who  was  crucified,  and  rose  again,  was 
indeed  the  Lord  of  Glory — Jehovah,  who  appeared  in  glory  to  Moses,  and 
to  Patriarchs  and  Prophets.  To  this  point  the  efforts  of  the  Apostles 
were  directed  after  the  day  of  Pentecost.  At  the  close  of  Peter's  Sermon, 
Acts  2d,  in  which  he  demonstrates  this  fact,  he  says  "  therefore  let  all  the 
house  of  Israel  know  assuredly,  that  God  hath  made  that  same  Jesus, 
whom  ye  have  crucified,  both  Lord  and  Christ.  When  they  heard  this, 
they  were  pricked  in  their  heart,"  and  about  three  thousand  were  convert- 
ed. On  the  next  occasion,  Acts  3d,  he  charged  the  Jews  with  having 
,;  denied  the  Holy  One,  and  killed  the  Prince  of  Life,  whom  God  raised 
from  the  dead."  The  conviction  and  conversion  of  five  thousand  ensued. 
Paul,  Acts  17th,  reasoned  with  the  Jews  oat  of  their  own  Scriptures, 
opening  and  alleging  that  the  Christ,  the  Messiah  of  those  Scriptures, 
must  needs  have  Buffered  and  risen  again  from  the  dead,  and  that  Jesus, 
whom  he  preached  to  them,  was  Vie  Christ.  Apollos,  Acts  18,  mightily 
convinced  the  Jews,  and  that  publicly,  showing,  by  the  Scriptures,  that 
Jesus  was  the  Christ. 

It  is,  accordingly,  the  object  of  the  first  twelve  chapters  of  the  work 
above  named,  to  show  under  what  designations  the  Divine  Mediator,  the 
Messiah  who  was  to  assume  man's  nature,  was  revealed  ;  by  what  local 
and  visible  appearances  he  was  manifested  and  recognized  ;  in  what  man- 
ner he  exercised  his  offices  ;  and  how  Moses,  the  Psalmist  and  the  Proph- 
ets wrote  of  him.  The  13th  and  14th  chapters  relate  to  the  Chaldee 
paraphrases,  and  are  designed  to  show  that  the  ancient  Jewish  church,  un- 
derstood the  Hebrew  Scriptures  as  revealing  the  Messiah,  in  the  ways  and 
under  the  designations  treated  of  in  the  preceding  chapters. 

The  two  ensuing  chapters  exhibit  some  reasons  of  the  failure  of  the 
modern  versions  of  the  Scriptures,  to  exhibit  clearly  the  Hebrew  designa- 
tions of  the  Messiah.  The  17th  and  18th  chapters  relate  to  the  antago- 
nism between  the  Messiah  and  the  great  Adversary,  as  carried  on  by  visi- 
ble agencies  and  events  ;  confirming  the  reality  of  the  personal,  local  and 
visible  manifestations  of  the  Messiah.  In  !  the  three  next  chapters  the 
same  subject  is  pursued,  with  reference  to  idolatry,  as  a  rival  counterfeit 
system,  founded  on  a  perversion  of  the  doctrine  of  mediation.  In  the  22d, 
23d,  and  24th  chapters,  the   fact  that,  since   the    Council  of  Nicea,  the 


work  of  creation  has,  in  the  Nicene  and  later  creeds,  been  ascribed,  not,  as 
in  the  New  Testament,  to  the  Christ,  but  to  the  Father,  is  accounted  for. 
The  closing  chapter  relates  to  the  termination  of  the  great  antagonism. 

In  the  progress  of  the  work  many  collateral  topics  are  touched  npon, 
as  being  demanded  by  the  present  state  of  the  Jewish  mind,  under  the  in- 
fluence of  their  system  of  Talmudical  and  Cabalistic  education  and  pre- 
judice. The  process  by  which  this  state  of  things  in  respect  to  the  Jews, 
has  been  brought  about,  is  traced,  and  more  or  less  elucidated,  from  the 
period  of  the  Babylonish  exile  to  the  present  time.  The  instrumentality 
of  the  Masoretic  punctuation,  and  of  the  system  of  allegorical  and  mys- 
tical interpretation,  is  also  brought  into  view.  The  origin  and  nature  of 
idolatry  as  a  rival  system  in  opposition  to  the  true  religion,  is  somewhat 
largely  discussed.  If  the  leading  doctrine  of  the  first  twelve  chapters  is 
established,  the  rest  of  the  work  will  not  be  deemed  superfluous  :  if  the 
official  titles  of  the  Messiah,  are,  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  applied  inter- 
changeably with  the  Divine  names,  to  one  and  the  same  person  ;  if  the 
same  works  are  indifferently  ascribed  to  that  person,  under  the  various 
names  and  titles,  by  which  he  is  designated  ;  and  if  that  person  appeared 
locally  and  visibly  to  the  Patriarchs  and  Prophets  in  the  likeness  of  the 
human  nature  subsequently  to  be  assumed  ;  then  the  leading  theme  of  the 
work  is  sustained,  and  whatever  there  may  be  of  originality  or  novelty  in 
the  author's  views  of  the  great  antagonism  ;  the  origin,  nature,  and  object 
of  idolatry  ;  the  state  of  the  Jewish"  mind  at  the  close  of  the  Babylonish 
exile,  at  the  first  advent,  and  since  ;  the  rejection  of  the  Divine  Mediator, 
and  the  entire  doctrine  of  mediation,  by  the  Jews  ;  the  origin  and  purpose 
of  the  Chaldee  paraphrases  ;  the  design  and  effects  of  the  Masoretic. 
points  ;  the  rise,  progress  and  influence1  of  the  oriental  philosophy,  the 
Gnostic  heresies  in  the  early  period  of  Christianity,  and  the  Mahometan 
and  rationalistic  systems,  and  the  final  termination  of  the  antagonism,  may 
be  left  to  the  judgment  of  the  reader. 

The  design  of  the  work  is  confessedly  of  great  importance.  In  re- 
spect to  the  history  of  the  Jews,  and  their  relations  to  the  Christian 
Church,  since  the  advent,  it  is  remarkable,  that  until  within  about  thirty 
years,  no  translation  of  the  New  Testament  into  their  own  language  was 
ever  presented  to  them  ;  and  up  to  the  present  time,  no  work  disclosing  the 
revelation  of  the  Messiah  in  the  Hebrew  oracles,  in  harmony  with  the 
testimonies  and  history  of  the  Xew  Testament,  has  been  provided  for  them. 
The  time  for  such  a  work  seems  to  have  arrived.  A  great  change  has 
taken  place  in  the  political  and  social  condition  of  the  ancient  covenant 
people,  in  nearly  every  kingdom  and  nation  of  the  earth.  With  the  repeal 
or  relaxation  of  the  intolerant  laws  of  one  nation  after  another,  their  as- 
pirations and  their  hopes  have  been  revived.  As  in  place  of  proscrij^ion 
and  abuse,  they  have  experienced  protection  and  favor,  they  have  mani- 
fested a  disposition  to  search  the  Hebrew  and  the  Christian  Scriptures, 
with  reference  to  the  Messiah ;  and  a  general  expectation  of  further 
changes,  and  the  fulfilment  of  prophecies  concerning  them,  seems  to  be 
gaining  ground  throughout  the  countries  in  which  they  are  dispersed. 
New   York,  May  2,  1853.  C.  S. 


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